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Photographic 

Sdences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTEii.N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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/.A 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  InstUute  for  Historical  IVIicroreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  IMotes/l^otes  technique*!  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  charge 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


[7^  Coloured  covers/ 
LklJ    Couverture  de  couleur 


r*  1    Covers  damaged/ 


n 


□ 


Couverture  endommag^e 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicul6o 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g^ographiques  en  couleur 


□    Coloured  inic  (i.e.  other  thar:  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serr6e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  int6rieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  &e  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  fiim^es. 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppi^mentaires; 


L'lnstitut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exenplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  «t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-6tre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduita,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  Is  methods  not  male  de  fiimage  . 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 


I     I   Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag6es 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  peiiicui^es 


I      I    Pages  damaged/ 

I      I    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


0    Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddoolordes,  tachet6es  ou  piqu6es 

□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tachdes 

ryi^  Showthrough/ 
Lk-J   Transparence 

□    Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Quality  ini§gale  de  I'impression 

□    Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

□    Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


D 


Pages  wholly  or  partisily  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmdes  d  nouveau  de  fa9on  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Th 
to 


Th 
po 
of 
fill 


Or 
be 
thi 
sic 
oti 
fir 
sic 
or 


Th 
sh 
Til 
wl 

Mi 
dil 
en 
be 

rig 
ret 
m< 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  fiimd  au  taux  de  rMuction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


12X 


16X 


20X 


26X 


30X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  hee  been  reproduced  thenks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Pubiic 
Archives  of  Canada 


L'exempiaire  filmA  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
gAnArosit*  de: 

La  bibiiothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cov^f  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  ^^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  7  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  dtA  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  l'exempiaire  film«,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

I.es  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  ImprimAe  sont  fiim6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  lage  qui  comporte  une  empreintc 
d'impres&^on  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmis  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  ie 
symboie  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  ere  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  11  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imeges  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


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2 

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I'.OSTOX: 
1' r  m,  I  S  11  1:  1)      !5  Y      A.     WILLIAMS     <t     CO. 

lOU      1  I!  K     SOCIKTY. 
I  H  J  ;) 


'■'*<w''"M''twa>WMW«fWj«ww»^aLiiMaaMMKi>^^  nig»£aBBMw«wiw.:agja«aai 


VN      ADDRESS 


BKPOKE    TIIR 


New    (englanb 


IN    THE 


fall  of  i^t  ioa«  of  ^Eprtstntalibta  of  Bmnt^nuMs, 

TUESDAY.   SEPT.   13th.    1859. 

THE    HUNDREDTH    ANNIVERSARY 

OF    THE 

DEATH  OF  MAJOR  GENERAL  JAMES  WOLFE, 

WITH    PASSAGES    OMITTED    IN    THE    DELIVERY,    AND    ILLUSTRATIVE 

NOTES    AND    DOCUMENTS: 


BY       LORENZO       SA.BlIsrB3. 


BOSTON : 
PUBLISHED    BY    A.     WILLIAMS    &     CO, 

FOR     THE     SOCIETY. 
1859. 


M 


m\ 


/-'17SH- 


Kroni  Die  CommiTcial  Priniinp  Wmw,  36  Kilby  St.,  H.mon. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  New  Englarnl  iristoric-Gencalofriciil  Soeicty, 
held  at  their  liooins  in  Boston,  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  January  lU, 
1859,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Dean,  it  was 

liesoU'ed,  That  a  Committee  of  five  he  appointed  to  considiT  wlietlier  it  ho  advi- 
sahle  or  not,  for  this  Society  to  cilehrute  tiie  One  Ilnndredth  Anniversary  of  tiie 
capture  of  Quehec — an  event  wiiicii  ih-terniined  tiie  institutions,  history  and  character 
of  tlie  wliolc  future  of  America;  anil  tluit  they  l)o  rccjiiested  to  rejiort  at  un  early 
day. 

After  some  diseussion  the  resolution  was  adopted,  and  Kev.  Henry  A. 
Miles,  D.  I).,  Frederic  Kidder,  Rev.  Martin  Moore,  Joseph  Palmer, 
M.  I).,  and  John  W.  Dean,  wen;  eiiosen  the  Committee. 

Rev.  Dr.  Miles,  ehairman  of  tiie  eoirimittee,  at  tlie  next  meetinjif 
February  2,  reported  in  favor  of  a  jirivate  celebration  in  the  Rooms 
of  tlie  Society.  The  plan  recommended  was  adopted,  and  the 
committee  unanimously  invited  Hon.  Lorenzo  Sabine  to  deliver  an 
Address  on  the  occasion,  which  invitation  he  finally  accepted.  It  was 
afterwards  suf^jgested  that  a  more  public  celebration  of  tiio  event  wa-" 
desirable ;  and,  on  submitting  the  subject  to  the  Society  on  the  3d  of 
August,  a  vote  was  passed  giving  the  committee  full  jwwer,  and 
they  issued  the  following  circular : — 

The  One  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  capture  of  Quehec  naturally  invites  the 
students  of  American  History  to  survey  the  consequences  of  an  event  which  did  so 
much  to  give  ascendency  to  English  civilization,  and  the  Protestant  religion,  in  this 
country. 

One  of  the  youngest  of  the  Xcw  England  Historical  Societies,  we  proposed,  at  first, 
only  a  ])rivato  commemoration  in  its  Rooms,  and  for  this  purpose,  invited  Hon. 
Lorenzo  Sabine  to  deliver  an  Address.  Since  his  acceptance,  a  desiie  has  hcen 
expressed  for  a  more  puhlic  occasion,  and,  to  this  the  Society  has  yielded.  Tues- 
day, the  l.'Uh  of  Septemher  next,  completing  a  century  since  the  death  of  Gexeuai. 
Wolfe,  is  the  day  selected,  and  puhlic  notice  will  be  given,  in  the  Boston  papers 
of  the  12th  of  that  month,  of  the  place  and  hour  of  meeting. 

The  attendance  of  friends  of  historical  research,  and  especially  of  members  of 
Historical  Societies,  will  he  an  encouragement  and  an  honor  to  us ;  and,  respectfully 
inviting  your  prescenee,  we  take  leave  to  subscril)e  ourselves, 

With  high  considerations  of  regard. 

Your  friends,  very  truly, 

HENRY  A.  MILES. 
FREDERIC  KIDDER. 
MARTIN  MOORE. 
.  JOSEPH  PALMER. 

JOHN  W.  DEAN. 

Committee  of  the  New  Enrjinnd  HistorioGcmnlogiral  Societj/. 
Boston,  August  23,  18.59. 


In  reply  to  tliis  circular,  letters  were  received  fvnm  tlie  I^resident  of 
the  Aini'riciin  Aiili<|iiiiriiin  Society,  lion,  Ste|ilicn  Siilisluiry,  of  Wor- 
cester, from  the  Presidents  ot"  tiie  Kiiode  I>land,  Vermont,  and  Chicago 
Historical  Soeietii's,  namely,  Albert  (J.  (Jreeiie,  Ks(|.,  of  I'rovideiKM', 
R.  I.,  IleiUT  Stevens,  Ks((.,  of  llarin't,  Vt.,  and  William  II.  Hrown,  Ks(|., 
of  ('hica;^o,  111.;  from  the  ('orri-spontlin;.' Secretaries  of  the  S'ew  Hamp- 
shire and  .Maryland  Historical  Societies,  nanwly.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Itoii- 
ton,  I).  1).,  of  ('oncord,  N.  H.,  an<l  Hev.  10.  A.  I)alrym|)le,  I).  I).,  of  Bal- 
timore, Mil.;  from  the  Lihrarian  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society, 
Frederick  H.  I'erkins,  Ksq.,  of  Harttitrd;  from  the  Secretary  of  the 
Essex  Institute,  Henry  Wiicatland,  .M.  I).,  of  Salem,  in  hehalf  of  their 
several  Societies  ;  and  from  other  fjreiillemi  n  to  whom  personal  invita- 
tions had  heen  sent.  The  Recording;  Secretary  of  the  ISIassachuselts 
Historical  Society,  Rev.  Chaiiiller  Uolihins,  I).  1).,  transmitted  a  copy 
of  the  following  vote,  passed  hy  that  Society  Se[»teml)er  8;  — 

"  Vntpd,  That  tlio  nu'inlicrs  of  tlio  MiisHnclmsetts  Historicnl  Socii-ty,  aocppt  tlio 
invitiitioii  of  till'  ('()inmitt<'c  of  the  New  l'iii;;iaii(l  llist(ii'ic-(iciu'al();^ical  Socii'ty,  to 
lie  pivscnt  on  the  occasion  of  cclcliriitiiiji  li_v  a  |iiil)lic  discourse  the  One  Ilunilrcdtli 
Aiiniversarv  of  tlu;  ca|iture  of  (^nehec,  anil  take  ph-aMire  in  manifesting;  therei)y, 
thniii^h  the  ciinrtcsy  of  a  kimtreil  Society,  tiieir  interest  in  the  great  historic  event 
which  it  is  inteiuled  to  connneinomte." 

The  Lil>rarian  of  the  Dorchester  Anti((uarian  and  Historical  Society, 
Edward  Holdeii,  Es(i..  transmitted  a  copy  of  the  vote  passcnl  September 
y,  by  that  society,  as  follows:  — 

"  Vdti'd,  I'imniinonsly,  that  tliis  Society  most  porilially  accept  tlie  invitation  of 
the  New  Ivii^land  llistoric-tJenealo^ical  S>)ciely;  and  that  said  Society  lie  assnred 
of  our  firateful  reco;iiiitioii  of  the  fraternal  eoiu'tesy  witli  wliieli  tiie  invitation  was 
commnuicateil,  as  well  as  of  our  hif^h  a|>preciatioii  o'  the  purpo-ie  of  that  hody  u\ 
commemoratini;  .iie  centennial  of  an  event  which  hail  so  important  a  hearing  uprii 
the  civil,  social  and  religious  lihertics  of  our  coninu  u  country." 

Mr.  Greene,  in  his  letter  mentioned  above,  wrote :  — 

"  The  interest  whieli  I  have  always  felt  in  the  important  historical  event  which 
your  Socii'ty  is  to  commemorate,  has  not  lieen  les-seiied  hy  the  fact  that  having  very 
recently  returned  from  a  visit  to  Canada,  the  existing  local  memorials  of  the  capture 
of  Quirbee,  are  almost  as  vividlv  hefore  me  as  they  were  a  few  days  ago  when  I 
stood  among  them ;  and  I  much  regret  that  I  cannot  meot  the  members  of  your 
Society,  and  listen  to  the  distinguished  gentleman  who  will  addi-css  you  on  the 
occasion." 

Mv.  Stevens  wrote :  — 

"  I  do  hope  that  your  Society  will  prosper,  and  your  memliers  multiply  from  year 
to  year:  at  least,  initil  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  May,  A.  D.,  187.5,  when  said 
Society  will  meet  in  the  vicinity  of  Tiionderoga,  and  cclehrato  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  cajiture  of  the  first  fortress  taken  from  the  British,  hy  a  few 
(Jreen  Mountain  hoys,  aided  hy  .lohn  Brown,  from  Boston,  and  Cant.  Mott,  from 
Connecticut,  and  live  others  from  Massachusetts  and  C/'onnecticut.  Again  when 
your  Society  celebrates  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  British  evacuating 
Boston,  your  orator  on  that  occasion  will  not  forget  to  make  honorable  mention  of 
the  forty  ox-sled  loiids  of  cannon  and  other  nnniitions  of  war  that  were  taken  from 
St.  Johns,  Crown  Point,  and  Ticonderoga,  by  the  Green  Mountaiti  boys  and  others, 
to  the  south  end  of  Lake  (Jeorgc,  and  there  lieing  landed  and  delivered  to  the  order 
of  (ieneral  Washington,  were  taken  in  part  to  forts  on  the  Hudson  liiver,  to  S]iring- 
field,  Mew  London  and  Groton.  Several  cannon  were  taken  to  the  vicinity  of 
Boston.  I  claim  that  it  was  by  the  use  of  these  cannon  that  the  British  were  driven 
out  of  Boston.    I  have  for  a  witness  the  ball  now  in  the  wall  of  Brattle  St.  Church." 


Bonson  J.  Losr^in;!,  Ivsij.,  of  I'mi^'likt'cpsic,  N.  V.,  wrote:  — 

"It  Mocnis  ti»  lie  a  iimst  ii|i|ir(>iiriatf  ncciisinii  fur  rcjoiciiiir  on  tlic  piirt  of  thf  Now 
Eiiulaml  iiroiilc,  t'lir  wlicii  llic  Hriti>li  Hat;  was  uiiCiirlcd  iijidii  tia'  walls  of  (^iiclicc, 
tlie  U)Uii  itay  ol'  iicui'c  aiiil  i|iii('t  tor  wliicli  i^tncnitioiis  liiul  |irayi'ii,  ilawiu'il  ui)()ii 
New  Kiinlaiid." 

It  would  he  iiitcrcstini;  to  coiitiiuic  (licsc  extracts,  but  sulliciciit  have 
bcni  <rivfii  to  hUow  tlic  tooling  with  wliicli  the  propo.st'd  celebration 
wuH  rcfcivt'd. 

The  Le;.nslatiii'e  (»t'  INIassaclnisfttH  liaviiij;  roinineneed  an  extra  ses- 
sion oil  the  seventh  of"  September,  the  eoiiniiitlee  ot'  arraii;.femeiits  maih) 
apphcatioii  to  the  Mouse  of  Hepreseiilalives  llir  tlie  use.  on  the  l.'ilh  (»f 
that  mouth,  of  their  Hail,  in  wliieli  it  seenieil  approprialt-  that  liie  Addresi^ 
HJiould  be  deii\ered.  This  rcfinest  was  readilv  aeeeded  to  ;  and  i)oth 
braurhes  of  the  Lt  gishituro  l)eiujf  invited  to  liear  tiit!  Address,  aceepled 
tlie  invitation. 

'J'he  weather  was  propitious  on  tlie  day  of  the  cfdebration.  and,  at  nn 
early  hour,  the  Hall  was  w(dl  tilled  with  a  resjiectaide  aiidieiiee,  amoiij^ 
whom  were  many  ladies.  JJesides  the  menii)ers  of  the  New  Kn;.daiid 
lIistori('-(  Jeuealojiieal  Society,  there  were  present  members  of  the  Mas- 
wichiisetts  (Jeneral  Court,  and  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
mid  numerous  other  'rieiids  of  historical  research,  while  the  tidlowing 
pentlemeii  attended  as  dele<;at('s  from  other  Societies,  nanudy  :  from  the 
Maine  Historical  Society, the  l'reside.>t,  Hon.  William  Willi>i,of  Portland; 
from  the  New  Hampshire  Histttrical  Society,  the  Hecordiii;^  Secretary, 
AV'illiain  F.  (Joodvviii,  Es(i.,  of  Concord ;  and  from  the  Hhod(^  Island 
Historical  Society,  I'sher  I'aivons,  M.  I).,  and  the  Librarian,  Kev. 
Kdwiii  M.  Stone,  of  Providence. 

At  half-past  three  o'clock  the  meetinj;  was  calle(l  to  order  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Miles,  the  cliairinaii  of  the  committee  of  arrauf^einents,  and  the 
president  of  the  Society,  Alinon  I).  Hodfres,  Escp,  took  the  chair.  The 
venerable  Itev.  "William  Jenks,  D.  1).,  offered  an  ajipropriate  and  im- 
pressive prayer,  after  which  the  President  briefly  addressed  the  assem- 
bly, stating  the  considerations  which  h'ti  the  Society  to  c(debrate  the 
event,  and  then  introduced  the  orator  for  the  occasion,  Hon.  Lorenzo 
Sabine,  who  proceeded  to  dcdiver  the  Addres;^. 

At  a  meetiuf^  of  the  Society,  h(dd  Wednesday  afternoon,  September 
21,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Trask,  the  thanks  of  the  Society  were  voted  to 
Mr.  Sabine  f()r  his  able  and  elo(iuent  Address,  and  he  was  requ(.'sted  to 
furnish  a  copy  for  the  press.  iVFr.  Sabine  has  complied  with  this 
request,  and  liis  Addn.-ss  is  now  printed  under  the  superhiteudence  of 
the  committee. 


I     2'75f 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  Pirmlent  and  Clciitlcmen: — 

TiiKiiE  is  so  much  to  sny  on  this  occasion,  that,  like  Wolfo 
hiniscll",  I  have  Imt  a  "-choice  of  (linicultics:"  and  should  1  tail 
to  interest  you,  I  have  simply  to  ask  that  you  remember  tho 
reasons  which  induced  me,  after  a  ))Ositive  declination,  to  apjjjar 
liefoH!  you,  as  well  as  the  cinMimstances  under  which  this  Ad- 
dress has  been  j)r(!jmred.  And  you  will  hear  with  the  onensivo 
pronoun,  since  its  use  will  save  words,  and  allow  me  to  speak 
directly  and  without  restraint.  With  this  brief  intrcjdutition,  I 
pass  at  once  to  discuss  the  topics  which  the  day  sujr<i^ests  to  us. 

The  first  charters  and  grants  of  Franco  and  England  in 
America,  were  made  in  perfect  ignorance  of  the  country,  and, 
it  happened  that  the  same  territory  was  sometime  conveyed  hy 
each :  while  generally  the  bounderies  were  so  uncertainly  de- 
scribed as  to  produce  long  and  bitter  controversies.  The  earli- 
est difficulties  occurred  in  that  half  fabulous,  never  defined  re- 
gion, called — "-4c«f/te."  The  treaty  of  St.  Germain,  by  wM?h 
the  former  power  acquired  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Cape  j  "C- 
ton,  terminated  the  disputes  for  a  time.  But,  the  English  people 
condemned  the  cession,  and  new  contentions  arose,  which,  as 
we  shall  see,  ceased  only  with  the  extinction  of  the  French  pow- 
er in  this  hemisphere.  In  fact,  a  historian  of  acknowledged 
authority  inclines  to  the  opinion,  that  the  differences  to  which 
that  treaty  gave  rise  were  among  the  causes  of  the  American 
Revolution. 


8 


Twenty  four  years  elaj)sctl,  v  hon  Cromwell,  insisth'gthat  No- 
va Scotia  rifiiitl'ully  Itcloiijferl  to  Eiifiland,  took  possession  of  it, 
and  founded  a  colony.  After  the  re^itoratiou  of  the  Stuarts, 
however,  and  by  ti'C  treaty  of  Breda,  it  })assed  a  second  time  to 
France,  to  the  great  displeasure  of  the  North,  and  especially 
of  Massachusetts.  Neither  lines  nor  linrlts  were  mentioned :  and 
collisions,  reprisals,  and  fierce  quarrels  were  renewed.  The 
convention  of  London,  in  1(38(5,  eonlirmed  the  two  powers  in  the 
possession  of  the  American  colonies  held  at  the  lieginning  of 
hostilities,  but  with  l)()undarics  as  unsettled  as  ever  before. 
Sagacious  men  in  New  Ejigland  had  now  become  convinced, 
that  tl.8  entire  exj»ulsion  of  the  French  was  the  ojily  measure 
to  ensure  peace:  and  they  endeavored  to  enlist  the  sym))athy 
and  co-operation  of  the  mother  country.  The  Avar  between 
France  and  England,  which  followed  the  accession  of  William 
and  Mary,  was  barely  proclaimed  in  Boston,  when  the  General 
Court  prepared  to  conquor  Nova  Scotia  and  Canada.  The  ex- 
pedition against  the  first  was  successful :  but  the  enteiprisc  in 
the  St.  Lawrence  was  disastrous.  At  the  peace  of  Ryswick, 
mutual  restitution  was  stijiulated:  and  New  England  was  deep- 
ly wronged.  Li  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  the 
two  nations  were  again  involved  in  war.  The  peo]>le  of  the 
}  "rthcrn  Colonies  needed  no  solicitations  to  engage  heartily  in 
the  contest.  They  attemjited  to  recover  Nova  Scotia:  equipped 
a  fleet  at  Boston:  but  failed  to  accomplish  their  object.  With 
the  promise  of  ships  from  England,  they  renewed  their  efforts, 
three  years  later;  l>ut  were  again  unsuccessful.  At  last,  in 
1710,  Nova  Scotia  became  an  English  colony.  Its  reduction 
was  a  duty  assumed  by  the  ministry,  but,  in  truth,  it  was  ac- 
complished principally  by  colonists  and  colonial  resources.  Of 
the  force  assembled  at  Boston,  six  ships  and  a  curps  of  marines 
were,  indeed,  sent  from  England;  but  the  remainder,  thirty 
vessels  and  four  regiments,  were  furnished  by  the  four  North- 
ern colonies. 

Whoever  has  examined  the  transactions  thus  rapidly  noticed, 
has  ceased  to  wonder  that  the  Stuarts  were  so  odious  in  New 
England.  I  know  of  notiiing  more  disgraceful  to  them,  either 
as  sovereigns  or  as  private  gentlemen,  than  their  dealings  with 


9 


tlicir  own  ori<rinal  graiitons,  and  thn  claimants  nndor  tliem  ;  and 
with  tlicMi"  sul))(n:ts  in  Aniorica,  who  hied,  roif>;n  al'tor  roign,  to 
pnt  an  end  to  the  calamities  entailed  upon  them  hy  the  treaty 
of  St.  Germain,  and  who,  in  the  adjnstments  of  Enropean 
questions  were  defrauded  of  the  fruits  of  their  exertions  and 
sacrifices  hy  the  sti|)uhitions  in  the  suhseiiuent  treaties  of  Bre- 
da, of  London,  and  of  Ryswick. 

The  conquest  of  one  French  possession  achieved,  the  ministry 
yielding  to  imi)ortunities  from  America,  projected  an  enterprise 
for  the  acquisition  of  Cnnada,  also.  "  The  whole  design,"  wrote 
the  celehrated  Bolingbroko,  "  was  formed  by  me."  >,After  inex- 
cusable delays  on  the  j)art  of  thosj  entrusted  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affjiir  in  England,  a  fleet  arid  land  force  finally 
departed  from  Boston  for  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  more  misci-able 
termination  to  a  military  operation  of  moment,  can  hardly  be 
found  in  history.  Peace  was  concluded  in  1713  ;  and  its  terms 
were  assailed  in  words  of  bitter  denunciation  by  the  party  in 
opposition.  Lord  Oxford  ^^as  impeached,  and  tried  for  his  life  ; 
but  such  has  been  the  progress  of  civilization  that  his  conces- 
sions to  France  on  the  sea, — his  principal  offense — have  become 
honorable  to  his  memory. 

Li  1744,  England  and  France  were  still  again  involved  in 
war ;  and  the  year  following,  the  capture  of  Cape  Breton  was 
undertaken.  The  subji;gation  of  that  Island  is  the  most  re- 
markable martial  event  in  our  colonial  annals.  Several  colonies 
south  of  New  England  were  invited  to  join  in  the  ex})edition, 
but  not  one  would  consent  to  waste  life  in  a  project  so  utterly 
mad:  and  Franklin,  forgetting  that  he  was  "Boston  born,"  rid- 
iculed it  in  one  of  the  wittiest  letters  he  ever  wrote  In  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  elsewhere  at  the  North,  men  enlisted  as  in  a 
crusade.  Boston  was  the  place  of  embarkation,  and  for  weeks 
troops  filled  the  streets,  and  ships  and  transports  the  harbor. 
Louisbourg,  the  capital,  was  the  point  of  attack.  Nearly  twenty- 
five  years,  and  thirty  millions  of  livres,  had  been  required  to 
co'nplete  it.  More  than  two  hundred  pieces  of  cannon  were 
moiinted  to  defend  it.  It  had  nunneries  and  palaces,  terraces 
and  gardens.  That  such  a  city  rose  upon  a  lone,  desolate  isle, 
in  the  infancy  of  American  colonization,  is  wonderful.    A  more 


10 


undisciplined  and  disorderly  l)ody  of  men  never  attempted  the 
reduction  of  a  walled  city.  The  French  commander  suhmitted 
on  the  forty-ninth  day  of  the  investment,  and  the  victors  en- 
tered the  "  Dunkirk  of  the  Western  world"  amazed  at  their  own 
achievement.  At  the  close  of  hostilities  Cape  Breton  was  re- 
stored: and  the  people  of  New  England  saw  their  victories  and 
their  interests  sacrificed  as  "equivalents"  for  defeats  and 
disasters  in  Europe,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Stuarts. 

But  the  contest  for  sujjremacy  was  soon  renewed.  The  peace 
of  1748,  was,  indeed,  only  a  truce.  France  aimed  by  means  of 
the  St.  LaAVjfcnce  and  the  intervening  lakes  and  other  waters, 
to  connect  Canada  and  Louisiana  ;  aiul,  in  the  execution  of  this 
plan,  built  about  twenty  forts,  besides  block-houses  or  stockad.o 
trading  posts,  on  territory  claimed  l)y  England.  The  alleged 
aggressions  were  in  the  i-egion  of  Acadie,  and  in  the  domains  of 
Virginia.  Hostile  deeds  occurred  in  both  before  the  formal 
declaration  of  war.  The  Board  of  Trade  sent  orders  to  the 
Governors  of  the  English  Colonies,  in  1754,  "  to  repel  force  by 
force."  The  events  Avhich  followed  these  instructions  intro- 
duced upon  the  theatre  of  affairs,  the  youth — George  Washing- 
ton— to  perform  an  important  and  hazardous  mission  for  his 
native  colony,  and  to  prepare  himself  to  serve  his  whole  country. 
The  estaljlishment  of  a  French  jwst  on  the  Ohio,  and  the 
defeat  of  Washington,  were  the  reasons  for  the  sending  of  Brad- 
dock  to  blunder ;  to  treat  wise  counsels  with  contemj^t ;  and 
to  perish.  The  reasons,  too,  of  an  attempt  on  Fort  Niagara, 
by  Shirley,  (governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  commander-in-chief 
of  the  British  forces,)  and  of  an  expedition  against  Crown 
Point. 

In  1756,  England  proclaimed  hostilities  ;  the  Earl  of  Loudoun 
superceded  Shirley:  and,  as  in  the  previous  year,  Niagara,  Crown 
Point,  and  Fort  du  Quesne,  were  to  be  assailed  by  different 
armies,  with  a  movement  up  the  Kennebec  in  Maine,  and  thence 
down  the  Chaudiere,  to  keep  Canada  in  alarm.  The  force 
employed  was  quite  ample,  probably,  for  success  everywhere ; 
but  the  campaign  was  an  utter  failure. 

And  yet  another  year,  the  resources  of  England  and  her  col- 
onies were  wasted  by  incompetent,  inactive,  lavender-scented 


11 


Generals ;  but  thoi-e  was  some  improvement  in  the  operations 
devised,  since  in  January,  1757,  it  was  determined  at  a  co\incil 
in  Boston,  to  strongly  garrison  the  English  posts  on  the  lakes, 
and  to  direct  the  whole  disposable  force  against  Louisbourg. 
The  result  may  be  stated  in  a  word.  Lord  Loudoun  went 
to  Halifax  with  his  fleet  and  army:  pondered  on  the  reports  of 
the  strength  of  the  city  he  was  to  invest :  and  deferred  the  en- 
terprise. On  the  inland  Avaters,  the  French, ol)taincd  the  mas- 
tery. They  reduced  Fort  William  Henry,  which  gave  them 
possession  of  the  lakes  Cham})lain  and  George :  they  destroyed 
the  post  at  Oswego,  which  gave  them  dominion  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  still  undisturbed  at  Fort  du 
Quesne,  they  maintained  their  ascendency  over  the  Indians,  and 
command  of  the  region  west  of  the  mountains. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  here.  Elsewhere, — in  India 
alone  excepted — British  arms  had  been  disgraced ;  and  the  na- 
tion was  roused  to  indignation.  For  eleven  weeks — in  the  fe- 
rocity of  political  parties,  England  was  without  a  ministry. 
"  Whoever  is  in,  or  whoever  is  out,"  wrote  Chesterfield,  "  I  am 
sure  we  are  undone  at  home  and  abroad." 

"I  am  sure,"  said  Pitt  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire, — "i  a;n 
sure  that  I  can  save  the  country,  and  nobody  else  can." 

The  country  took  the  Great  Commoner  at  his  word.  As  re- 
lates to  the  subject  before  us,  the  successes  of  17 08,  were  an 
earnest  of  final  triumph.  The  force  entrusted  to  Abercrombie, 
who  succeeded  Loudoun,  was  die  largest  ever  assembled  in 
America.  The  plan  of  several  distinct  expeditions  was  renewed. 
The  Commander-in-Chief,  was  to  operate  against  Ticonderoga 
and  Crown  Point ;  Amherst,  against  Louisbourg ;  while  Forbes, 
was  to  reduce  du  Quesne.  Abercrombie  failed  in  an  assault 
upon  the  first-named  fortress,  and  deferred  the  intended  move- 
ment against  the  second ;  but  duQuesne,  and  the  capital  of  Cape 
Breton  fell.  It  is  at  the  investment  of  the  latter,  that  the  name 
of  James  Wolfe  first  occurs  in  our  annals. 

The  campaign  of  1759,  was  conducted  by  Amherst.  To  enter 
Canada  with  three  armies,  by  different  routes,  and  to  attack  all 
the  strongholds  at  nearly  the  same  time,  was  the  plan  adopted. 
The  reduction  of  Quebec  was  projected  by  Pitt  himself,  and  as- 


1.(1 


12 


signed  by  him  to  Wolfe.  Amherst  was  to  move  a.^aiust  Ticon- 
deroga  and  Crown  Point,  and,  on  becoming  master  of  b()tli,was 
to  proceed  over  Lalce  Cbaniplain  to  the  aid  of  Wolfe.  Prideanx, 
after  having  captured  Fort  Niagara,  was  ordered  to  embark  on 
Lake  Ontario,  thence  conduct  his  army  down  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  subjugate  Montreal. 

Never,  probably,  in  an  unknown  wilderness  country,  was  a 
military  scheme  so  bold,  so  vast,  so  complex,  more  nearly  exe- 
cuted. Had  Prideaux  reduced  Montreal,  and  had  Andierst 
arrived  before  Quebec,  every  thing  arranged  on  paper  would 
have  been  accomplished.  The  next  year,  Montreal  and  the 
remaining  French  posts  submitted.  Between  the  breaking  up 
of  a  Jesuit  mission  in  Maine,  and  the  treaty  of  Paris,  Avas  a 
century  and  a  half. 

We  have  seen  how  large  a  part  of  the  period  was  devoted  to 
war.  The  contest  was  at  an  end ;  and  the  Gaul  resigned  the 
New  World  to  the  Briton. 

We  now  celebrate  the  decisive  day.  The  victory  we  com- 
memorate gave  half  a  continent  to  Anglo  Saxon  rule  and  civili- 
zation, and  hastened  the  freedom  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  colonies. 
And  this  is  the  next  theme  that  claims  our  attention. 

First,  we  are  to  bear  in  mind  that  British  America,  a 
century  ago,  was  valuable  to  the  Statesmen  of  England  as  a 
market  for  merchandise,  and  to  " quarter"  in  office  poor  noble- 
men, the  younger  and  dissipated  sons  of  rich  ones,  and  men  of 
broken  fortune  or  character  among  the  aristocracy,  generally. 
When  the  French  dominons  were  added  to  the  empire,  and 
the  system  of  colonial  government  was  to  be  revised  —  as  we 
shall  presently  notice  —  tlie  inquirer  into  the  every-day  life  of 
the  period  has  found  that  the  expectants  of  place  were  as  ex- 
cited, as  we  ourselves  have  seen  the  "  operators"  in  one  of  our 
land  speculations,  and  pressed  their  claims  just  as  some  of  us 
have  been  solicited  to  buy  townships  of  trees,  or  corner  lots,  or 
water  lots,  or  commanding  sites  for  private  homes  or  public 
institutions.  The  cases  were  alike,  too,  hi  the  ignorance  of  the 
parties  concerned  of  the  regions  to  be  disposed  of;  for  the 
king,  as  a  mark  of  distinguished  favor,  offered  Pitt  the  gov- 
ernorship of  lone,  distant,  wilderness — Canada ;  and  the  seekers 


IS 


of  oflfice,  as  uninformed  as  a  majority  of  their  countrymen, 
really  believed  that  nearly  all  the  An<eriean  ))eople  were  ne- 
groes.* In  this  general  condition  of  things,  we  rre  to  seek  the 
solution  of  the  political  events  that  followed  on  this  side  of  the 
ocean,  and  on  the  other. 

To  me,  the  lives  of  the  instruments  of  human  progress  run 
into  one  another,  and  become  so  interwoven  as  to  ai>j)ear  but 
the  continuation  of  a  single  life.  It  is  so  in  the  history  of  a 
c(mimunity ;  and  I  am  weary  of  reading  that  the  stamp  duty 
and  the  tea  duty  w^ere  the  "  causes  "  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution. 

Colonies  become  nations  as  certainly  as  boys  become  men, 
and  by  a  similar  law.  The  "  Declaration  "  of  the  lixty-six,  at 
Philadelphia,  w^as  but  the  "  Contract,"  signed  by  the  forty-one 
sad  and  stricken  ones  in  the  waters  of  Provincetown,  with  the 
growth  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  years.  The  intermediate 
occurrences,  were  simply  of  disci]»line,  of  developement,  and  of 
preparation.  At  most,  taxation  and  the  kindred  questions  did 
but  accelleratc  the  dismemberment  of  the  British  empire, — just 
as  a  man  whose  lungs  are  half  consumed,  hastens  the  crisis  by 
suicide.  Why  does  not  the  case  of  an  individual  colonist  —  of 
Franklin  —  illustrate  the  emancipation  of  the  thirteen  colonies  ? 
He  was  an  apprentice  during  minority ;  but  at  the  ago  of 
seventeen,  ill  used,  obnoxious  to  the  governing  party,  and  fear- 
ful of  still  further  difficulty  with  it,  and  luipopular  in  conse- 
quence of  his  religious  views,  he  broke  his  indentures,  and  fled 
from  Boston  —  his  friend,  Collins,  undertaking  to  manage  his 
flight.     So,  at  seventy,  for  the  same  general  reasons,  he  broke 

*  "  How  is  it,"  asked  Dr.  Johnson,  at  the  RcvoliUinnai y  era,  "  how  is  it  that  wo 
hear  the  loudest  yelps  for  liberty  anion}^  drivers  of  nep'ocs  '" 

Col.  "an"e,  as  we  shall  see,  was  one  of  Wolfe's  office  rs  at  Qiiehcc  :  he  said  to 
Josiah  Qiiincy,  of  Boston,  who  was  in  Kii^huid,  January,  1775,  "  Al)out  fifteen 
years  ayo,  I  was  throu^fh  a  considerable  part  of  your  country.  *  *  *  * 
For  you  must  know,  sir,  America  was  always  a  faviVlnte  with  me  :  but  will  you  be- 
lieve it,  sir,  yet  I  assure  you  it  is  true,  more  than  two-thirds  of  this  island  at  that 
time,  thouglit  the  Americans  were  negroes." 

The  Duke  of  Newcastle,  was  for  years  the  minister  who,  with  the  Board  of 
Trade,  had  charf^e  of  the  affairs  of  the  >  .merican  Colonies ;  ])ut  he  could  not  tell 
whether  Annapolis  was  in  Massachusetts  or  in  rcnnsylvania,  thoutrh  until  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht,  when  Nova  Scotia  passed  finally  to  the  British  crown,  no  place  was 
oftener  mentioned  in  military  and  political  circles,  than  Annapolis  Royal,  or  Port 
Royal.  Nor  did  the  Duke  know  that  Cape  Breton  was  an  island,  thouf^h  its  capital, 
Louisbourg,  in  his  time,  was  the  most  renowned  city  ia  all  French  America. 


I 


I. 

Ill, 


u 


his  faith  witli  his  royal  maptor  —  (xcorgo  III.  —  a  little  before 
his  natural  frcodoni  day,  and  found  an  ally  iu  Louis  XVI.  of 
Franco  ;  and  the  loss  of  the  last  named  nionareh's  possessions 
in  America,  was  the  cause,  above  all  others,  that  hastened  his 
transformation  from  a  British  colonist  into  an  American  citizen. 
We  do  honor  to  an  event,  then,  in  which  we  have  a  personal 
interest. 

After  the  fall  of  Quebec  and  of  the  remaining  posts,  and 
while  the  terms  of  peace  were  undetermined,  there  arose  an 
excited  discussion  between  some  of  the  statesmen  of  England 
on  the  question  of  restoration.*  The  prevalent  fear  was  that, 
if  Canada  should  be  retained,  the  colonies,  no  longer  apprehen- 
sive of  the  French,  Avould  uicrease  so  ra})idly  as  soon  to  assert 
their  freedom.  To  a  pamphlet  in  support  of  this  view,  of  the 
surrender,  and  of  the  acceptance  of  Guadaloupe  as  an  equiva- 
lent, written,  as  supposed,  with  the  countenance  of  Burke,  and 
by  a  kinsman,  Franklin,  replied  in  his  ablest  manner ;  and,  as 
believed,  with  effect  upon  the  ministry.  Pitt  would  have  kept 
both,  but  the  "  sugar  island  "  was  restored.  Discussions  which 
opened  the  whole  question  of  the  colonial  system  of  govern- 
ment—  of  a  system  which  Avas  destitute  of  a  single  element  of 
human  brotherhood  —  followed  histantly  and  generally;  and, 
"  made  many  of  us  at  the  time,"  remarks  John  Adams,  "  regret 
that  Canada  had  ever  been  conquered."  f     The  first  offence 


*So  iif^iiiii  at  the  dose  of  the  IJevolmion.  Lord  Broufiham,  in  liis  historieal 
sketches,  relates  tliat,  "  '  when  Lord  Slielhurne's  pence  (1783)  was  sifjncd,  and  hefore 
tlie  terms  were  made  j)nl)lic,lie  sent  for  tlie  Earl  St.  Vincent,  and,  showing  them,  asked 
his  opinion.'  '  I  like  them  very  well,'  said  he,  '  hut  their  is  a  <;reat  omission.'  '  In 
what  /'  '  In  leaving  Canada  as  a  British  province.'  '  How  could  we  possihly  give 
it  up!'  inquired  Lord  Shell)urne.  'How  can  you  hope  to  keep  it?'  re])lied  tho 
veteran  warrior:  'with  an  English  repuhlic  just  established  in  the  sight  of  Canada, 
ami  with  a  population  of  a  handful  of  Euglisli  settled  among  a  hody  of  hereditary 
Frenchmen,  it  is  iuipossihle ;  and,  rely  on  it,  you  only  retain  tv  running  sore,  tho 
source  of  dis(|uiet  and  expense.'  '  Would  the  country  hear  it  (  Have  you  forgotten 
■\Volfe  and  Quehec  ('  asked  his  lordship.  'No;  it  is  because  I  rememher  hoth.  I 
served  with  Wolfe  at  Quebec. .  Having  lived  so  long,  I  have  had  full  time  for  rc- 
fiecliou  on  this  matter;  and  my  clear  opinion  is,  that  if  this  fair  occasion  forgiving 
up  Canada  is  neglected,  nothing  but  difficulty,  iu  cither  keeping  or  resigning  it,  will 
ever  after  be  known.'  " 

tJohn  Adams,  in  his  preface  to  "  Nomn(jlits,"  thus  relates  a  conversation  with 
Jonathan  Hewell,  who,  in  the  course  of  events,  attached  himself  to  the  royal  cause, 
and  died  in  banishment : — 

"After  the  surrender  of  Mon^-eal,"  says  Mr.  Adams,  "rumors  were  everywhere 
spread  that  the  English  would  now  new-inodel  the  colonies,  demolish  the  charters, 
and  reduce  all  to  royal  governments.    These  rumors  I  had  heard  as  often  as  he  had. 


%& 


was  the  cstalilishmont  of  a  military  p:overnment  in  that  Province, 
which,  with  the  alteration  ol'  its  houndiirics,  loi-nis  one  of  tlio 
^(irrinj?  array  of  frriovanccs  set  ont  in  the  Deelanition  of  Inchv 
])endonco.  The  French  war  had  inci-eased  the  itnltlic  del)t  of 
England  three  hnndred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars;  and  the 
civil  and  military  charf:;o  of  Amei-ica  had  risen  in  a  lew  years 
from  less  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  nearly  a  mil- 
lion and  three  (juarters,  annually  ;  and  the  reasoning'of  Enulish 
ministers  was,  that  a  part  of  the  puhlic  burdens  should  he  borne 
by  the  colonies,  for  whose  l)cnefit  expenditures  so  large  had 
been  incurred,  and  were  to  be  continued. 

Had  the  jdan  of  the  ministry  been  limited  to  pointing  out 
this  condition  of  things  to  the  colonial  assemblies,  and  to  sugges- 
tions of  yearly,  voluntary,  contributions,  the  mother  and  her 
children  might  have  lived  in  harmony  another  generation. 

]hit  the  course  adopted  was  offensive  in  every  way,  and  to 
the  last  degree. 

First,  the  consolidation  of  British  America  was  projected ; 
the  charters  of  IMassachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut, 
were  to  be  annulled ;  and  the  Thirteen,  under  a  common  sys- 
tem, with  new  boundaries  to  some  of  them,  were  all  to  bo 
"  royal  governments,"  with  a  peerage.  This  offended  the  class 
called  "  the  people,"  every  where,  for,  at  the  North,  the  control 
of  public  affairs  were  to  pass  to  the  "  old  "  —  the  genteel  fami- 
lies ;  and  in  New  York  and  at  the  South,  to  the  great  land- 
holders. Second,  a  permanent  revenue  was  to  be  derived  from 
duties  on  imported  merchandise.  In  Cromwell's  time  colonial 
commerce  was  free.  The  Stuarts,  who  followed  'lim,  attempted 
restraints  Avithout  success ;  and  so  generally,  finally,  were  the 
laws  of  navigation  and  trade  disobeyed,  that  nine-tenths  of  all 
the  tea,  wine,  fruit,  sugar,  and  molasses,  consumed  in  America, 


One  morninfj:  I  met  him  accidentally  on  the  floor  of  the  old  town-liousc,  [lioston.]" 
"  John,"  said  he,  "I  want  to  speak  to  you."  "He  always  called  me  John,  I  him 
Jonathan;  and  I  often  said  to  him  I  wish  my  name  were  David      He  took  me  to  a 

window  seat,  and  said:  "These  Euj^lishmen  are  fioin<^  to  plav  ll'e  d 1  with  us. 

They  will  overturn  everythin<j.  We  must  resist  them,  and  that  hy  force.  I  wish 
3'ou  would  write  in  the  news])apers,  and  urjjc  a  {general  attention  to  the  militia,  to 
their  exercises  and  discipline,  for  we  must  resist  in  arms."  I  answered,  "  all  this,  I 
fear,  is  true:  hut  why  do  you  not  write  yourself,  &c.,  &c.  ?" 

Thus  early,  and  heforc  tlie  close  of  the  war,  were  api)rehensions  entertained  of  a 
complete  change  in  the  colonial  system  of  government  in  America. 


16 


were  smujiolod.  To  |)Ut  an  end  to  this  illicit  traffic  was  tlio 
detenniiied  purpose.  T\w  coniniiinders  of  the  sliij)s  ol' war  on 
the  Anieriean  station  were  connnissioned  as  officers  of  the 
customs ;  and,  to  »iuicken  their  zeal,  they  were  to  share  in  the 
proceeds  of  confiscations ;  the  courts  to  decide  upon  the  lawful- 
ness of  seizures,  were  to  be  composed  of  a  sin<ile  judge  without 
a  Jury,  whose  emoluments  were  to  he  derived  from  his  own 
condenmations ;  the  jiovernors  of  colonies  and  the  military 
officers,  were  to  he  rewarded  for  their  activity  by  sharing',  also, 
either  in  the  property  condenmed,  or  in  the  ])enalties  annexed 
to  the  interdicted  trade.  Boston  was  the  jjreat  offender ;  and 
soon  twelve  ships  of  war,  mountin<?  no  less  than  two  hundred 
and  sixty  guns,  were  assembled  in  the  harbor,  for  revcnno 
service  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  merchants  of  the  seaports 
were  roused  to  preserve  their  business,  and  when  the  contro- 
versy came  to  blows,  lawyers  who  had  esj)oused  their  cause  in 
the  course  of  professional  duty,  simply,  were  among  the  most 
efficient  advocates  of  liberty.  One  quarter  part  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  were  bred  to  trade,  or  to  the 
command  of  ships,  and  more  than  one  was  branded  with  the 
epithet  of  '^'  smuggler  ; "  *  and  it  Avas  fit  that  Hancock,|  who, 
at  the  shedding  of  blood  at  Lexington,  was  respondent  in  the 
Admiralty  court  in  suits  of  the  crown  to  recover  nearly  half  a 
million  of  dollars  of  penalties  alleged  to  have  been  incurred  for 
violations  of  the  statute  book;  —  it  was  fit  that //c  should  be 
the  first  to  affix  his  name  to  an  instrument  which,  if  made  good, 


*In  1770,  the  newspaper  press  taunted  Gov.  Ilutiliinson  himself  with  having 
been  a  notorious  smufrjiler,  wlien  he  was  a  Boston  nicrehunt. 

tin  works  of  .John  Adiims,  vol.  2d,  pf>'.  ai.5. 

In  1 768 :  "  Mr.  Hancock  was  prosecuted  upon  a  groat  nuinher  of  libels,  for  pen- 
alties u])on  acts  of  Parliament,  amounting  to  ninety  or  an  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling.  He  thought  tit  to  engage  me  as  liis  counsel  and  advocate,  and  a  painful 
drudgery  I  had  of  liis  cause.  Tliere  were  few  days  through  the  whole  wintu-when 
1  was  not  summoned  to  attend  the  Court  of  Admiralty.  It  seemed  as  if  the  officers 
of  tlie  crown  were  determined  to  examine  the  wliole  town  as  witnesses.  *  *  # 
*  *  *  *  I  was  tlioroughly  weary  and  disgusted  with  the  court,  the  officcre 
of  the  crown,  the  cause,  and  even  with  tiie  tyrannical  hell  that  dangled  me  out  of 
my  house  every  morning :  and  this  odious  cause  was  susjjenilcd  at  last  only  by  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  which  put  an  end,  forever,  to  all  sucli  jjrosecutions." 

The  curious  inquirer  will  find  on  tlie  same  page,  one  of  the  j)oints  of  the  defence 
of  Mr.  Adams,  for  liis  client.  The  ground  taken,  is,  that  Hancock  never  consented 
to,  or  voted  for,  the  statute  which  imposed  the  penalties,  and  that,  "he  never  voted 
for  any  man  to  make  such  a  law  for  him,"  &c.,  &c. 


IT 


would  savo  liliu  fi-oin  ruin,  niul  give  his  countrymen  free  com- 
inerct!  with  ill!  the  world. 

Third,  the  niilitiiry  pride  oi'  the  colonies  had  l)een  shocked 
during  the   war,  quite  as  nuu'h   as  gentlemen  who  possessed 
any  sense  of  seir-res|)eet  could   well  hear.      "The   treatment 
of  the  provincial   ollicers   and    soldiers    hy    the     British    offi- 
cers," says  Jojni  Adams,  "madii  tlu;  Idood  hoil  in  my  veins." 
Our  time  is  too  liniitf^d  to  allow  more  than  a  moment's  atten- 
tion to  the  (piestion  of  raidc.     Two  illustrations  will  servo  our 
j)urj)ose.     In  Alassac'husetts,  Winslow  was  a  major-general,  and 
in  that  capacity  served  the  country  in  connuand  of  an  army. 
He  held,  also,  the  commission  of  captain  of  British  regulars, 
and  Avas  ranked  hy  an  ofticer  of  that  grade  whose  a|)|)ointment 
was  a  single  day  earlier  than  his  own.     In  Virginia,  Washing- 
ton was  a  colonel,  and  chief  of  the  forces  of  the  colony.     The 
claim  of  a  captain  to  rank  him  was  one  of  the  principal  causes 
of  the  capitulation  at  Fort  Necessity ;  the  renewal  of  the  pre- 
tension, when  IJraddock  came,  drove  him,  disgusted,  from  the 
service  ;  and,  again  revived,  occasioned  his  tirst  visit  to  Boston. 
To  add,  now,  that  the  colonies  furnished  nearly  one  thousand 
officers  of  all  grades,  is  to  show  that  the  wrong  was  generally 
felt  and  discussed.     If,  under  particular  circumstances,  there 
were  modiiications  of  the  rule,  the  principle  of  ]»recedence  to 
officers  of  the  regular  army  was  not  changed.     The  Board  of 
Trade  had  advised  a  permanent  military  force  in  America,  for 
sixty  years  prior  to  hostilities ;  and  Lord  Loudoun's  commission 
created  him  a  sort  of  dictator  independent  of,  and  superior  to, 
the  colonial  governments  ;  and  his  successors  exercised  the  same 
power  down  to  the  Revolution.    Had  the  army  been  withdrawn 
at  the  time  of  the  peace,  or  if  garrisons  on  the  frontiers,  and  in 
some  of  the  ports  on  the  coast,  were  necessary,  had  the  colonial 
officers  of  merit  been  participants  in  the  royal  favor,  the  injuries 
of  the  past  might  have  been  forgotten.     But  it  was  a  part  of 
the  system  to  maintain  twenty  battalions  of  regulars ;  to  divide 
the  colonies  into  military  districts,  under  the  command  of  briga- 
dier generals,  and  to  place  these  departments  entirely  above 
the  civil  j)ower.*     The  result  was  constant  irritation,  and  the 

*HcMi("o  the  charge  in  the  manifesto  of  wronjrs,  .Inly  4,  1  "76  :  "  Jle  hiis  kept  among 
us  in  timi'  of  pcaee,  standing  armies,  without  tiie  consent  of  our   Legislatures." 
3 


'M 


rJ 


18 


oponiiiv;  of  olil  wounds;  tlu^  (•(»iisliuil  iccollcction  of  lormcr 
|t(M-soiial  insults,  and  ol'disaliilily  as  colonists  to  |j:ratiiy  nuirtial 
aniliition. 

In  {\w  zeal  of  our  AViitcrs  to  show  that  "taxation  without 
ro|»rcsontati()n"  caused  tho  rn|)tnic,  I  have  sonu'tinics  thoujilit 
that  Car  too  little  attention  has  iieen  paid  to  this  element  of  dis- 
alHrfion.  The  aii'e  was  decidedly  niilitai'v  ;  oHice  in  tlu^  militia 
was  even  a  (jualilicalion  for  civil  employments.  The  numlier 
of  colonels,  majors,  and  cajitains  that  appear  as  mendx-rs  (jf  the 
coloidal  asseinl)lies,  and,  sul>se(piently,  of  provincial  conjrresses, 
startles  one,  'J'he  (piarrels  ahout  rank  in  the  Conjxress  of  the 
Continent,  dispnists  oiu;.  Later  still,  .John  Adams  of(end(>d  tlie 
men  who  had  liorno  arms,  hy  entertaining;"  the  "indirect"  over- 
ture from  France,  and  thus  added  an  elenuMit  of  opposition  to 
himself,  that  helped  to  ])rematurely  ruin  his  party. 

And  what  of  the  newspii|)er  essays  and  letters  of  Samuel 
Adams,  and  of  others  ?  the  eloquent  appeals  in  Fauueil  Hall, 
and  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  ?  AVhat  of  the  rev- 
olutiomuy  movement  everywhere,  hut  foi*  the  military  skill  and 
experience  acc|uired  in  the  seven  years  vuir  with  France  V  The 
colonics  furnished  quite  twenty-eight  thousand  troops  in  more 
than  one  of  the  canqtaigns ;  and  every  year  to  the  extent  of 
their  ahility.  The  hurthen  fell  principally  on  the  middle  colo- 
nies, and  on  Xew  England. 

At  one  ])eriod  of  the  contest,  one-fifth  of  theahle-hodied  men 
of  !^[assachusetts  were  in  the  service  ;  and  of  these  no  less  than 
twenty-five  hundred  served  in  garrison  at  Louishourg,  and  in 
Nova  Hcotia,  in  place  of  regulars  taken  thence  hy  Wolfe,  to 
complete  his  force  for  the  investment  of  Quebec.     In  fine,  it  is 
literally  true,  that  for  years  together,  more  men  in  prop(n-tion, 
were  raised  for  the  field,  in  America,  than  in  England  ;   Avhile 
on  the  ocean,  full  twelve  thousand  seamen  were  enlisted  in  the 
royal  navy  and  in  the  colonial  privateers.     Without  the  aid  of 
the  survivors  of   these,  resistance,  or  the  thought  of  it,  woiild 
have  been  downright  madness.     And  the  unanimity  and  alac- 
rity with  which  those  who  had  fought  at  Ticonderoga,  Crown 
Point,  Louishourg,  du  Qucsne,  Niagara  and  Quebec,  espoused 
the  )>opular  cause  at  first,  ami  rallied  under  the  popular  banner 


ii 


n 


ill  tlio  last  roHort,  was  one  of  tlio  most  hoiicful  incidents  of  tlin 
riivoliifioiiary  <'ra. 

And  now,  \vlio  dciviscd,  ailviso<l,  and  )»i'oniotod,  tlu>  measures 
which  piv(^  so  (leep,  so  universal  olU'use  to  the;  colonies ':'  With- 
out a  (loulit,  the  principal  olVicers  of  the  British  ai'iny,  who 
served  in  America  during- the  Krench  war,  were  amonji;  the  most 
etlicient  instruments  of  alienation  and  strife.  I  pro|»ose  to 
KpcMik  of  tho  courso  pursued  hy  all  tlio  commanders-in-<'hi(d',  as 
well  as  that  of  sonic  of  inferior  grad(\  not  only  hecauso  the 
topic  is  p(M-tinent,  l)ut  hecauso  it  is  worth  our  while,  occasionally 
to  descend  to  details,  and  to  (h^al  with  indivi<luals. 


Of  Shirley,  (i 


of  Ml 


ded  Hrad- 


iiiriey,  UovcM'uor  oi  iMassacimscuts,  wiio  suct'coded  lirad 
dock  in  tho  command  of  tho  army,  wo  will  pause  only  to  say, 
that  ho  was  one  of  tho  earliost  to  su<;<i:(^st  to  tho  Lords  of  Trade 
tho  plan  of  a  rovonuo  ;  hut  that,  divoslod  finally  of  place  and 
jiower,  ho  died  poor  and  in  nitiroinent  at  Roxl)ury,  on  the  eve 
of  the  Revolution.  Tho  Karl  of  Loudoun,  Avho  followed,  was, 
prohaldy,  the  most  incompetent  gonoral  ofhcer  sent  here.  Inci- 
dents which  show  his  character  ahouiid  in  tho  works  of  Frank- 
lin, in  our  hooks  of  history,  and  elsewhere.  His  conduct 
caused  general  aversion.  But,  supposed  to  he  versed  in  (pies- 
tions  which  related  to  the  colonies,  his  influence  on  the  side  of 
the  crown,  was  of  moment.  Ahercrombie,  his  successor,  was  a 
man  of  very  questioiiahle  couraf>;e  ;  hut,  returned  to  England, 
and  in  Parliament,  he  was  among  the  bravest  of  the  voters  for 
revenue,  and  for  subjugation  by  force. 

The  fourth  and  last  military  chief  was  Amherst.  By  a 
severe  pen  he  is  called  "  log  of  wood."  Be  this  as  it  may,  his 
personal  exertions  to  secure  the  conquest  of  Canada,  were 
moderate  at  the  most.  By  the  plan  of  the  campaign  of  1759, 
as  already  remarked,  he  was  to  assist  in  the  reduction  of 
Quebec  ;  but  Wolfe  was  left  to  struggle  alone  with  his  embar- 
rassments. That  Amherst  profited  at  home,  by  the  successes  of 
his  generals  is  certain.  He  was  even  anxious  for  reward,  and 
suggested  an  American  Peerage,  of  which  ho  was  to  be  the 
first,  and  to  take  precedence  of  all  others,  with  the  grant  of 
Canadian  coal  mines,  sTipposed,  in  the  ignorance  of  the  day,  to 
be  worth  several  thousand  pounds  sterling  annually.     Though 


r 


ll 


•20 


ho  failed  ill  tliii*,  ho  was  civahMl  a  British  haroii  siihscquoiitly, 
and  a  lidd  tuarshal. 

(Jcoiyc  Towiisht'iid,  the  sccdiid  l»ri«radi('r  uiiilcr  Wolfe,  was, 
however,  far  more  |)oteiit  than  either  of  the  pKU'ediii^^  oihet'rs 
of  hiffher  rank.  In  the  previous  war  he  had  served  witheredit 
on  the  continent  of  KiUro|te  ;  i)ut  on  eoin|»l!iint  of  hard  usa«i;e 
from  his  superiors,  had  resipiiMl.*  In  rarliameut,  ho  was  tho 
author  of  the  famous  "  militia  act,"  which  caused  frreat  distur- 
banco  in  Kn^daml,  and  iiid(H'(l,  open  reltellion  in  parts  of  it.  In 
1758,  wo  find  that  he  wrot(!  to  Pitt,  asking;  to  he  a|. pointed  a 
colonel  of  the  liiu!,  and  to  he  employed  on  the  coast  of  Krance. 
We  hear  of  him  next  on  the  Dili  of  the  foUowing  Fehruary, 
when,  relates  Wid|)ole,  " 'I'he  ex|)e<lition  called  to  Quehoc  do- 
parts  on  Tuesday  next,  under  Wolfe  and  (Jeorjro  Townshond, 
who  has  thrust  himself  apiin  into  the  sin'vico,  and  as  far  as 
wroiifi-headedness  will  j^o,  very  propor  for  a  hero."  That  ho 
stipulated  to  return  at  tho  ch)so  of  the;  cunipaifrn,  appears  from 
Smollett,  who  writes  more  favorahly  of  him  than  any  one  (dse. 
The  general  (piality  of  coura<i:e  may  ho  a(!('or<led  to  him  with 
distinct  em|)hasis,  and  so  we  may  allow  that  lu;  was  a  man  of 
ability,  thou<>;h  wo  shall  fmd  that  hf>th  were  disputed  ;  but  ho  is 
to  ho  execrated  as  a  soldier,  ami  as  a  peer. 

The  last  remark  introduces  a  question  that,  possibly,  may 
excite  surprise.  It  is  tho  common  and  tho  just  soutimont  of 
the  world,  that  tho  victory  of  tho  Thirteenth  of  September  was 
won  l)y  Wolfe,  and  that  as  a  direct  conseiiiiciico,  French  Amer- 
ica passed  to  the  JJritish  crown.  The  brijjjadicrs  on  that  day 
were  three  :  Monckton,  Townshond,  and  Murray  ;  all  young,  all 
members  of  noble  families.  The  first  was  disabled  on  the  field. 
Townshond  took  command  as  the  next  in  rank,  called  in  the 
parties  that  were  in  pursuit  of  tlio  fiying  French,  and  restored 
his  disordered  lines.  This,  after  the  fall  of  tho  Chief,  was  all 
that  was  done  ;  all,  in  truth,  that  remained  to  be  done  ;  but  yet, 
George  Townshond,  five  drys  afterwards,  received  the  capitula- 
tion of  Quebec,  as  the  real  conqueror.     His  official  despatch 

*  One  writer  1ms  it :  "  In  the  Inst  war,  Col.  Townshond,  beinp:  ordered  by  the 
Duke  to  his  re^riment  in  Minorca,  he  wivs  detained  by  some  family  aflFairs  for  a 
month,  and  broke  on  that  account," 


21 


niHMipicH  five  (|uiirt()  |m)f<'s.  ft  is  seldom  timt  the  «\V(«  iiKH'ts  a 
iiun'e  liciirtlcss  |»a|)(>r.  Wolff  is  nu'iitioiKMl  Init  once  hy  miinr, 
niid  simply  in  coiuinxioii  with  rormiii^  tlii>  lint'  nl'  Liiillc  :  while, 
iiisteiiil  of  II  tiiliiite  to  his  memoryi  there  is  u  eohl,  hare  aiinuii- 
ciiitioii,  in  Just  fifleen  words,  that  he  fell  at  the  head  of  the 
grenadiers.  So,  apiin,  in  an  order  of  the  day  to  tlu;  troops,  he 
spoke  of  "  the  pi't'son  who  lately  eoinmandetl  them  ;"  ami  in 
another,  of  the  '•  late  (leneral ;"  and  he  ne^ieeled  or  relused  to 
re(piest  th(!  oHieers  to  pay  the  usual  muurning  honors  to  u 
tlepart(Ml  ('hief. 

Tho  author  of  the  touehinj;  odi  ,  the  "  Ihirial  of  Sir  John 
Mooro,"  was  of  Wolfe's  linea^(( ;  and  «lid  lu^  think  of  the  con- 
duct of  his  kinsman's  second  hriji'udier,  as  ho  wrote  : 

"  Lijrlitly  thcv'll  talk  of  tlio  Hpirit  tlint's  gone, 
And  (I'cr  liis  cold  iislics  ii|il)rai<l  liiiii." 

From  one  of  'I'ownshend's  own  lettei's,  we  ascertain  that  ho 
d(^parted  Queliec  on  the  ISth  of  Octolter.  The  corres|)on(len('e 
of  s(^veral  persons  of  tla;  time,  contains  evidence  that  after  his 
arrival  in  Knjiland  ho  took  U)  himself  tho  principal  honor  of  the 
rculuction  of  that  city;  and  that  Lady  Tow  nshond,  "  tho  con- 
(|U(!ror's  mother,  covered  herself  with  more  laurel  loaves  than 
were  hea})ed  on  the  children  in  the  wood." 

1  propose  to  notice  at  some  lenuth  an  elahorato  review  of  his 
course,  as  found  in  a  "  Letter,"*  which  was  addressed  to  him- 
self ))y  a  }»erson  who,  whether  in  tho  army  or  iu  civil  life,  was 
well  skilled  in  military  aliliiirs.  In  this  })roductiou  ho  is  dis- 
tinctly accused  of  haviiifjj  appropriated  the  great  achievement  of 
the  war  to  himself,  in  a  peculiar  manner  ;  of  having  boon 
pressed  into  tho  expedition  without  his  knt)wledge,  and  of  hav- 

* "  Letter  to  an  ITonnnihlo  Bripidicr  General,  Commiiiiiler-in-cliief  of  his 
Mnjesty's  Citnes  in  C'lumdii :" 

London,  MM).  Clmrles  \,ec,  who  was  then  an  oflicer  in  the  British  nrniv,  was 
sni)i)osod  to  he  the  author:  re))ul>lislied  in  1841,  and  then  as('rii)ed  to  ./('/(/«.<,  Iiy 
the  editor,  N.  \V.  Simons,  of  the  Jiritish  Museum.  This  letter  excited  considcr- 
alile  notice  when  it  first  u])i)eared,  and  led  to  a  hostile  meeting;  hetween  Townshend 
mid  the  Karl  of  All)ermarie,  who,  it  was  thou^'ht,  countenanced  the  |)ulilicatioii. 
The  parties  were,  however,  nn-ested  on  the  ^rround,  hefore  a  dujl  was  fought.  A 
"  Refutation  "  was  puhlished  soon  after  the  "  Letter."  The  text  contains  the  more 
material  parts  of  hoth,  as  relates  immediately  to  (ienernl  Wolfe.  For  the  use  of 
these  important  pages,  1  am  indehted  to  my  friend,  Hon.  Thomas  Aspinwnll. 


if 


22 


iiig  objected  to  the  iiiannor  of  attacking  Quebec ;  and  yet,  of 
tMuleuvoring  to  lilch  the  laurels  of  others,  and  to  enjoy  "alone 
the  honors  of  its  being  tiiken."  The  |)rinci|)al  specilic  charges, 
and  the  substance  of  the  answers  to  them,  follow  : 

"  Yoii  sifiiu'tl,"  av(.'rs  the  writer  of  llie  "  Letter,"  "  you  si}j;ned  the 
artifles  of  capil illation  williout"  IMonckton's  "  knowledge,  and  anxious 
tor  the  preservation  of  your  conquest,  you  appointed  the  staff  of  the 
garrison  without  even  asking  liis  consent."  *  *  *  *  "lie  might 
have  ordered  you  into  arrest  for  such  an  outrage  to  iiis  authority.  He 
Avas  not  insensible  of  the  indignity  ;  hut  you  asked  his  pardon,  and, 
languisliing  under  his  wounds,  he  accejjted  your  submission." 

The  material  point  of  the  reply  of  Townshend,  (or  of  the 
author  of  the  "  Refutation,")  is,  that : 

"  Gencal  ]\ronck*nn  was  so  dangerously  wounded  a*--  not  to  be  able  to 
act ;  tlial,  moreover,  the  time  was  too  precious,  and  the  exigence  of 
affairs  too  urging  to  adn^it  of  any  delay." 

But  this  defense  will  not  avail,  for  in  Townshend's  orders  to 
the  army,  the  very  day  after  the  battle,  he  says  he  "  has  the  sat- 
isfaction to  acquaint  the  troops  that  General  Monckton's  wound 
is  not  dangerous  ;"  and  this  was  true,  for  on  the  23d  of  Sep- 
tember, he  was  able  to  assume  command.  His  first  order  was 
issued  on  that  day,  ana  began  with  a  request  which  his  officious 
inferior  had  neglected  :  "  General  Monckton  desires  that  all  the 
officers  of  the  army  vill  please  to  ivear  mourning  for  General 
Wolfe,  their  late  Commander-in-chief,  such  as  is  usual  in  the 
fieldr 

Again,  m  sthiging  sarcasm,  the  "  Letter  "  accuses  : 

''  And  so,  the  better  part  of  valor  is  discretion,  according  to  Falstaff 's 
wisdom,  you  discreetly  left  your  regiment,  whose  paltry  emoluments  you 
had  dearly  purchased  by  your  one  campaign,  and  prudently  quitted  a 
scene  where  danger  would  probably  be  too  busy."  *  *  *  *  "  Your 
imderslaufbng  was  not  to  be  dazzled  by  INIr.  Wolfe's  foolish  passion  for 
gloiy.  lie  had  precipitately  ventured  beyonil  all  possibility  of  retreat- 
ing ;  he  had  no  other  choice  but  that  of  death  or  victory,  especially 
afler  you  had  solemnly  entered  your  protest  against  his  plan  for  attack- 
ing the  enemy."  *  *  *  ..  Uut  they  must  have  known  very  httle  of 
the  expedition  to  Quebec,  who  expected  tl.uit  you  would  bear  testimony 
to  the  conduct  of  a  General  whose  plan  of  operations  you  had  the  honoi-, 


2i\ 


^^1 


botli  ill  public  nnd  privato,  to  oppose,  and  against  whose  last  desperate 
attempt  you  protested  in  form." 

The  points  of  the  answer  in  the  "  Refutation,"  arc  : 

"  That  General  Townshend  did  protest  against  an  attaek  planned  by 
General  Wolfe,  is  not  denied  ;  but  what  was  the  object  thereof,  and 
where  was  it  to  be  made  ?  Why,  not  ininiedialely  against  (Quebec,  but 
to  attaek  the  French  in  their  entrenchments.  However  gallant  such  a 
design,  and  liowever  gloriously  AVoife's  martial  spirit  was  displayed  by 
the  proposal,  yet  it  appeared  to  General  Townshend  and  other  otlicers, 
who  had  never  ilinched  in  the  hour  of  duty,  ^o  fraught  with  ruin,  and 
so  big  with  dangerous  ctaisequences,  as  ratiier  to  be  declined  than  carried 
into  execution.  The  dissenters  on  that  occasion,  were  those  who 
proposed  attacking  Quebec  in  the  unexpected  and  surprising  man- 
ner by  which  it  was  taken,  and  which  will  be  admired  to  latest  posterity. 
General  AVolfe,  who  had  been  a  little  ])i(pied  at  his  scheme  being  ilis- 
sented  from,  came  in  at  last  to  that  i)roposed.'.'  *  *  *  "  General 
Townshend  did  not  protest  against  the  scheme  tiiat  reduced  Quebec,  but 
quite  the  reverse." 

To  tliis.  I  rejoin  that  three  plans  to  force  Montcalm  in  his  works 
were  objected  to  by  the  brigadiers,  instead  of  one,  as  here  indi- 
cated ;  and  that,  so  far  from  Wolfe's  denying  any  obligations  to 
these  officers,  he  expressly  stated,  in  his  dispatch  of  September 
2d,  that  the  general  proposal  of  acting  above  the  town  was 
made  by  them,  and  that  he  had  "  acquiesced  "  in  their  sugges- 
tion ;  but  it  does  not  thence  follow  that,  in  arranging  the 
details  of  their  proposition,  or  in  the  execution  of  the  scheme 
itself,  after  it  was  matured,  he,  the  Chief,  and  responsible  for 
everything,  should  yield  to  his  inferiors,  in  the  point  of  merit. 
That  Wolfe  is  really  entitled  to  the  praise  which  Townshend 
would  appropriate  to  himself  and  the  other  "  dissenters,"  is  a 
conclusion  which  rests  on  amiile  evidence.  The  testimony  of 
Knox  is  alone  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  He  disposes  of 
Townshend's  pretensions  in  these  emphatic  terms :  "  The 
French  army,  under  the  Marquis  do  Montcalm,  being  amused  by 
Mr  Wolfe,  iuid  lulled  into  a  state  of  security,  were,  by  the  sole 
discerning  judgment  of  that  eminent  young  General,  allured  from 
their  strong  entrenched  camp,  and  defeated."  And  what  credit 
is  due  to  this  statement?     Knox  was  the  chronicler  of   tour 


24 


campaigns  in  the  French  war ;  his  record  is  received  as  author- 
ity by  writers  of  history ;  lie  was  personally  present  at  the 
reduction  of  Quebec  ;  was  acquainted  with  the  incidents  of  the 
seige,  and  saw  and  published  every  military  order  that  was 
issued  there  ;  and  he  wrote  the  passage  just  cited,  a  year  after 
Wolfe's  fall,  when  he  could  but  have  known  of  the  wicked 
attempts  to  rob  that  officer  of  his  glory.  Or,  if  ignorant  of 
those  attempts,  in  17(J0,  or,  if  the  account  he  then  gave  was 
inaccurate  in  any  i)articular,  he  had  nine  years  for  correction 
and  revision,  since  the  publication  of  his  book  was  delayed  until 
1709,  when  he  certainly  did  know  every  circumstance  that  had 
occurred  in  Parliament,  in  military  circles,  and  elsewhere,  and 
must  have  read  the  "  Letter"  and  the  "  Refutation,"  time  and 
again.     Evidence  to  the  same  point  is,  however,  abundant. 

The  Gentleman's  Magazine  says,  "  singly  and  alone  in  opinion, 
Wolfe  formed  the  plan,"  &c.  Also,  in  italics,  denominates 
him  "  77(6  conqvero?'  of  Canada^     Lord  ]\Iahon  relates : — 

"  It  does  not  seem  certain  at  what  j)eriod  or  by  what  accident 
he  first  conceived  the  daring  thought  to  land  his  troops  be- 
neath the  heights  of  Abraham,  on  some  point  less  guarded  than 
the  rest.  Yet  the  honor  of  the  first  thom^ht  belongs  to  Wolfe 
alone,  and  once  conceived,  it  was  no  less  ablij  and  boldly  pur- 
sued.''^ But  Yonge  covers  the  whole  ground.  He  states  that, 
"  as  Wolfe  -"vas  gazing  from  his  camp  at  the  api)arently  unassail- 
able position  of  the  French  army,  the  idea  suddenly  occurred 
to  him  to  scale  the  heights.  *  *  *  TrnsMng  that  the  seem- 
ing impossibility  of  such  an  entci'})rise  might  facilitate  it  by 
preventing  Montcalm's  attention  being  turned  to  that  direction." 

Still  further  the  accuser  of  Townshend,  in  the  same  bitter 
tone : 

"  Some  malignant  spirits,  indeed,  were  offended  at  your  not  having 
paid  one  simple  compliment  to  the  memory  of  General  Wolfe,  or  used 
one  kind  expression  of  esteem  or  affection  with  regard  to  his  person. 
Surely,  some  people  are  not  to  be  satisfied.  Pennit  me,  sir,  in  your 
name,  to  ask  them  whether  your  warmest  encomiums  could  have  added 
to  that  universal  good  opinion  which  the  public  had  conceived  of  Mr. 
Wolfe's  abilities  and  courase  ?" 

The  accusation  is  repelled  thus  : 

"  If  General  Townshend,  in  his  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  did 


25 


A  ». 


not  pay  civil  comjilimcnts  to  the  momory  of  Gcnci-al  AVoifc,  it  wns  not 
for  want  of  esteem,  but  because  of  the  impropriety  to  write  a  paucfryric 
to  a  minister,  when  nothiii};  but  tiie  situation  and  exigence  of  alliiird 
were  to  be  mentioned." 

Then,  this  (juotatioii  is  mach'  from  a  letter  of  General  Townshend  to  a 
friend  in  London  : 

"  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  to  you,  that  my  heart  does  not  exult  in 
the  midst  of  this  success.  I  hav(!  lost  but  a  friend  in  General  Wolfe. 
Our  country  has  lost  a  sure  su])port  and  a  perpetual  honor.  If  the 
world  were  sensible  at  how  dear  a  price  we  have  purchased  (Quebec,  in 
his  death,  it  would  damp  the  general  joy.  Our  best  consolation  is,  that 
Providence  seemed  not  to  pi'omise  that  he  should  remain  long  among 
us.  lie  was  himself  sensible  of  the  weakness  of  his  constitution,  and 
determined  to  crowd,  into  a  few  years,  actions  that  would  have  adorned 
length  of  life." 

This  is  plausible  enough  on  the  face  of  things,  but  will  not 
bear  examination.  In  the  first  place,  Admiral  Saunders  wrote 
Pitt  on  the  same  day  of  Townshend's  despatcli,  and  saw  no 
"  impropriety "  in  the  expressiini  of  sorrow  that  "Wolfe  was 
slain  ;  nor  did  it  occur  to  Townshend  himself,  that  there  v^as 
"  impropriety  "  in  the  following  "  panegyric  "  on  the  officers  of 
tiie  fleet,  for  t/iet/  were  living : 

"  I  should  not  do  justice  to  the  admirals  and  the  naval  service,  if  I 
neglected  this  occasion  of  acknowledging  how  much  we  are  indebted,  ihr 
our  success,  to  the  constant  assistance  and  support  received  from  them. 

*  *  *  It  is  my  duty,  short  as  my  command  has  been,  to  acknowl- 
edge, for  that  time,  how  great  a  share  the  navy  has  had  in  this  success- 
ful campaign. 

As  relates  to  the  origin  of  the  letter  "  to  a  friend  in  London," 
cited  above,  Walpole  avers  that  it  was  manufactured  for  the 
occasion,  and  to  cover  the  pretender's  retreat.  His  account  is 
that : 

"  Wolfe  dead,  and  Monckton  disabled.  General  Townshend  signed 
the  articles.  He,  anc  his  friends  for  him,  even  attempted  to  ravish  the 
honor  of  the  conqueHfrom  Wolfe.  Townshend's  first  letter  said  nothing 
in  praise  of  him.  In  one  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  he 
went  so  far  as  indirectly  to  assume  the  glory  of  the  last  effort.  *  *  * 
Lord  Buckingham  moved  the  address  in  the  Lords,  and  flung  in  much 
panegyric  on  George  Townshend,  whose  friends  were  now  reduced  to 
4 


26 


rompose  an(l  publish  in  h!s  name,  a  letter  in  praise  of  Wolfer  *  *  ♦ 
Towiishcnd  went  to  Canada,  adds  Walpole,  unwilliiifrly,  and  '  \\m  M'nt, 
evon,  it  was  believed,  by  Pitt,  who  wished  to  pet  rid  of  so  ti-ouldesome 
a  man.' " 

The  merciless  author  of  tlic  "Letter"  tells  the  "conqueror" 
to  "  either  go  to  Quehec,  or  resign  your  couiuiission  ;"  and,  re- 
ferring to  the  battb  on  the  Thirteenth  of  September  :  "  You 
were  at  a  safe  and  lionorahle  distance  from  the  scene  of  action, 
wiien  yon  were  told  that  you  commanded."     And  he  asks  : 

'•Are  not  you,  sir,  at  this  moment,  abusing  your  interest  with  that 
minister,  by  leaving  and  being  so  many  months  absent  from  your  com- 
mand at  Quebee  v  *  *  *  Are  you  not  paid  for  your  command  of 
a  regiment  in  America,  and  is  not  some  officer  now  doing,  at  the  risk  of 
his  life,  the  <luty  for  which  you  are  paid  ?  Is  not  yours  the  single 
instance  of  this  kiud  of  desertion  in  the  service  ?  *  *  *  "\Vhy  are 
you  not  at  your  post  ?  or  why  do  you  receive  the  pay  of  two  regiments 
lor  nothing  ?" 

The  answer  to  these  queries,  is  that  of  a  shameless  boaster  : 

1st.  "How  is  he  [General  Townshend]  abusing  his  interest  with  the 
minister  ? 

2d.  He  [Gen.  T.]  has  gloriously  completed  his  militaiy  mission  to 
Quebec. 

3d.  His  friends,  his  family,  his  countiy,  the  British  constitution, 
sighed,  wished  for,  nay,  demanded  his  return,  in  order  to  set  him  at  the 
head  of  the  national  militia,  of  which  he  was  the  great  promoter.  What 
a  glorious  example  is  it,  to  see  the  reducer  of  Quebec  march  at  the 
head  of  a  regiment  of  militia." 

Here,  then,  we  have  at  last  the  gist  of  the  whole  matter  in 
controversy.  Wolfe,  and  everybody  else,  set  aside,  and  "  the 
reducer "  of  Quebec  })roclaimed  to  be  no  other  than  George 
Towiishend.  The  writer  of  the  "  Refutation  "  was  shielded  by 
the  grave,  and  boldly  enough  did  he  dare  truth  and  heaven. 
Fortunately,  the  pretender  to  the  honors  Avhich  belonged  to  the 
fallen  Chief,  whatever  his  \ilterior  designs,  had  not  fully  con- 
cluded to  thrust  himself  before  the  world  as  "  the  conqueror," 
on  the  20th  of  September,  when  he  composed  his  despatch  ; 
and  thus  he  can  be  proved  an  impostor  by  his  own  words  : 
"  Our  troops  reserved  their  fire,"  he  wrote,  "  till  within  forty 


3 

I 


27 


yards,  which  wiis  so  well  continued,  that  the  enemji  cverif  where 
gave  iiwfi.  It  was  then  our  General  fell,  at  the  iiead  of  Bragg's 
and  the  Louisbourg  grenadiers,  advancing  witli  their  bayonets." 
He  then  proceeds  to  narrate  that  about  the  same  time  Monck- 
ton  was  wounded,  that  "  i)art  of  the  enemy  made  a  second  faint 
attack,"  and  a  part  "  seemed  to  make  a  stand  :"  in  a  woi'd,  that 
several  British  corps  pressed  on  with  bayonets  ;  that  Murray 
completed  the  rout  on  one  side,  that  the  Highlanders,  sup|)orted 
by  Anstruthcr  s  command,  took  to  their  broad-swords,  and 
drove  some  of  the  flying  French  into  Que))ec,  and  some  to  their 
works  at  the  bridge  on  the  river  St.  Charles,  with  several  other 
particulars,  not  material  here  to  mention  ;  and  having  stated 
all  these,  he  adds :  "  This  was  the  situation  of  things,  ivhen  I 
was  told  in  the  action  that  I  commanded.^'  Was  not  the  day 
won  before  he  was  informed  that  he  was  the  senior  officer  on 
the  field,  by  his  own  account  ?  1  have  once  affirmed,  and  now 
repeat,  that,  all  that  was  done,  all  that  remained  to  be  done, 
when  Townshend  repaired  to  the  center,  was  simply  to  recall 
the  troops  in  pursuit,  and  to  restore  his  disordered  and  broken 
lines. 

Every  student  of  history  understands  that,  at  times,  allow- 
ance is  to  be  made  in  the  portraits  of  public  men  by  Walpole  and 
by  Junius  ;  but,  with  all  the  evidence  from  other  sources,  few, 
I  apprehend,  will  be  disposed  to  entirely  deny  the  accuracy  of 
their  delineation  in  the  present  case.  The  first,  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served, was  by  no  means  partial  to  Wolfe.  Of  Townshend, 
he  says : 

"  A  very  particular  young  man,  who,  with  much  address,  some  honor, 
no  knowledge,  great  fickleness,  greater  want  of  judgment,  and  with  still 
more  disposition  to  ridicule,  had  promised  once  or  twice  to  make  a  good 
speaker.  He  was  governed  by  his  mother,  the  famous  Lady  Towns- 
hend." *  •  ♦  o  o  o 

"  To  Wolfe  was  associated  George  Townshend,  whose  proud  and 
sullen  and  contemptuous  temper,  never  suffered  him  to  wait  for  thwart- 
ing his  superiors  till  risen  to  a  level  with  them.  He  saw  everything  in 
an  ill-natured  and  ridiculous  light.  *  *  *  The  haughtiness  of  the 
Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  talents  or  blemishes  of  Fox,  the  ardor  of 
Wolfe,  the  virtue  of  Conway,  all  were  alike  the  objects  of  Townshend's 


:i% 


28 


8|)Icpn  and  contradiction  ;  but  Wolfe  was  not  a  man  to  waive  pre-emi- 
nence from  fear  of  caricatures." 

Junius,  wiio  iievoi-  spares  a  foe  : 

"I  find  you  and  your  brother  printers  bave  jrot  fjreatly  into  u  sort  of 
knack  of  stulHnj?  your  i)apers  with  tiiinunery  upon  two  certain  brothers 
[Lord  Townshend  and  bis  brotiier  Charles]  who  alMabor  in  vain,  en- 
deavoring to  force  themselves  out  of  the  world's  contempt.  *•*  <'  <■' 
The  peer,  a  boaster  without  spirit,  and  a  jartender  to  wit,  without  a 
•"■rain  of  sense;  in  a  word,  a  vain-glorious  idler,  without  one  single  good 
(piality  of  head  or  heart.  ^'^  "  *•'  " 

"  Why  is  that  wretched  creature,  Lord  Townshend,  maintained  in 
Ireland?  Is  it  not  universally  known  that  the  ignorance,  presumption, 
and  incapacity  of  that  man,  have  ruined  the  king's  affairs  in  Ireland?" 

Wc  conclude  our  notice  of  the  "  Letter,"  with  a  single  extract 
more,  merely  to  show  the  kind  of  (Jenerals  who  ])ossessed  the 
esteem  of  Townshend,  and  on  Avliom  he  could  lavish  praise  : 

"  The  eiuuny  wen^  routed  beton;  General  W(dfe  fell,  or  Monckton 
was  wounded.  You  had  only  to  temper  the  ardor  of  the  soldiers  in 
pursuit ;  and  I  dare  swear  you  led  them  on  as  regularly,  and  as  method- 
ically, according  to  the  rules  (tf  war,  as  your  frit'nd  and  favorite,  Lord 
(ieorge,  slow  marched  the  cavalry  at  the  battle  of  IMinden.  You  have 
been  bis  Lordship's  wannest  advocate,  and  be  has  been  to  you  an  exam- 
ple of  military  glory." 

80  far  from  denying  friendship  for  Lord  George  Sackville, 
the  rejjly  to  the  accusation  is  a  labored  defense  of  his  Lordship's 
conduct  at  Minden,  which  occu]»ics  vseveral  pages.  Of  a  case  so 
familiar  to  readers  of  English  history,  it  is  hardly  necessary 
to  remark,  that  Sackvillc,  who  commanded  the  British  forces, 
neglected  to  advance  with  the  cavalry  in  suj)port  of  the  infantry, 
as  ordered  to  do  by  his  superior  officer.  Prince  Ferdinand ;  and 
that  he  was  disjuissed  from  the  army,  and  pronounced  unfit  to 
serve  in  any  mditary  capacity  whatever,  only  three  days  before 
Wolfe's  death.. 

On  the  decease  of  his  father,  in  1767,  George  Townshend 
became  a  viscount.  In  Parliament,  he  was  among  the  most 
earnest  advocates  of  enforcing  the  measures  of  the  ministry 
against  the  colonies.  It  is  said  'of  him,  that,  angry  at  not  ob- 
taining the  dignity  of  marquis,  (in  reward  for  his  services  in 
Caiuida,  as  I  suppose,)  he  "  pushed  his  brother  Charles  upon 


I 


29 


knavery;"  that  lie  was  "  desi<i-iiliif>-"  and  "  rovcn^cftil ;"  that 
Charles  was  "afraid"  of  him,  and  when  ofU'rcd  a  phice  in 
the  administration,  dared  not  to  deeide  without  consult in<r  him, 
an«l  providing  for  his  interest.  So  when,  l»y  his  brother's  influ- 
ence, ho  was  apjminted  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  it  was  writ- 
ten, that  "  ho  would  impose  on  the  Irish  at  first,  as  he  had  done 
on  all  the  world  ;  would  please  them  In' Joviality,  and  then  grow 
sullen  and  ([uarrel  with  them."  And  suhse(|uently,  that  his 
government  was  "  ridiculous ;"  that  the  people  of  his  rule 
"  despised  it "  and  him  ;  and  in  a  letter  to  Pitt :  "  A  general 
officer  of  ability  is  to  be  sent  to  Ireland,  if  such  an  one  can  be 
found,  who  will  serve  under  Lord  Townshend."  In  a  word, 
there  is  good  authority  for  saying,  that  having  rendered  himself 
obnoxious  to  all  classes,  and  having  quarrelled  with  several  of 
the  great  Irish  lords,  the  ministry  determined  that  his  recall 
was  a  necessary  measure,  and  that  the  resolution  was  not  exe- 
cuted simply  because,  in  the  divisions  Avhich  preceded  Pitt's  re- 
tirement from  office,  the  cabinet  could  not  agree  ujioii  a  succes- 
sor.* We  find  men  like  Lord  Ocorgc  Townshend  in  every 
generation  ;  men  who,  in  the  opinion  of  others,  lack  every 
essential  qualification  for  official  station,  but  who  still  possess  a 
ridiculous  estimate  of  self,  and  of  ability  to  fill  the  most  diffi- 
cult and  responsible  posts.  Such  persons  exist  in  England  and 
among  us,  at  this  very  moment ;  and  those  who  administer 
public  affiiirs  meet  them  at  every  turn,  and  worn  out  liy  impor- 
tunity and  annoyance,  finally  confer  upon  them  the  desired 
distinction,  much  as  the  maiden  accepted  her  lover,  simply  to 
get  rid  of  them. 

Charles  Townshend,  the  minister,  was  a  wonderful  man  every 
way,  and  as  wonderful  in  his  eccentricities,  follies  and  vices,  as 
hi  his  intellect,  eloquence,  boldness,  and  command  of  the  House 
of  Commons.!     In  American  affiiirs,  he  was  supposed  to  be  the 


*  Anecdotes  and  Speeches  of  tlie  Earl  of  Chatlmm,  2(1,  p.  83. 
t  From  Burke,  in  his  speech  on  American  Ta.mtion,  in  1774  : 

"  There  are  many  young  meml)crs  in  tlie  House  (sucli  of  late  has  hecn  the  rapid 
succession  of  pHl)lic  men)  who  never  saw  tliat  i)rodigy,  Charles  Townshend,  nor,  of 
course,  know  what  a  ferment  he  was  able  to  excite  in  everything,  by  the  violent 
el)ullition  of  his  mixed  virtues  and  failings  ;  for  failings  he  had,  iindoubtedly  ; 
many  of  us  remember  tliem  ;  we  are  this  day  considering  tlie  etfect  of  them.    *    * 

*  *    *    He  was  truly  the  cliild  of  the  House.     He  never  thought,  did,  or  said 


80 


best  inforiiK'il  man  in  rarliiinu'nt.  Trained  to  public  life,  he 
held  (AVu'Ai  in  the  achnirahy,  in  the  privy  council,  in  the  itoard 
of  trade,  and  in  the  war  department ;  was  iiiiymaster-fienerul, 
chancellor  of  the  exchetpier,  and  a  lord  of  the  treasury  ;  and 
yet  he  died  at  the  a<>e  of  forty-two.  To  the  Townshcnds*  wo 
owe  as  nuich  as  to  any  other  two  men  in  Enjiland,  the  scheme  to 
consolidate  the  colonies ;  to  raise  a  revenue  by  duties  on  im- 
])orts  ;  to  maintain  a  standing  army,  and  to  enforce  the  obsolete 

nnytliiiifr,  l>nt  witli  n  view  to  you.  He  every  tliiy  lulaptou  himself  to  your  disposi- 
tion, 1111(1  iijiisted  liiinself  iicfore  it  as  iit  a  l()okin;;-;ilii.s.s." 

TIu'  iiiispariiiy;  pen  of  Jniiiiis  : 

"  (.'hiirles  Towiislienil  took  some  eiire  of  liis  ediieation  lit  tlint  nmlii^nioiis  npe, 
wliicli  lies  lietween  the  follies  of  political  eliildliood  and  the  vices  of  piilierty.  Tho 
empire  of  the  |iiissioiis  soon  succeeded.  His  earliest  principles  and  connexions  were 
of  conrse  for^iotten  or  des))ised.  The  eompanv  he  has  lately  kept  has  heen  of  no 
service  to  his  morals,  and,  in  the  conduct  of  pnliiic  affairs,  we  see  the  ciiaraeter  of 
his  time  of  life  strony:ly  distinguished.  An  ohstinate,  iini:overnahle  self-siitliciencv 
plainly  points  out  to  us  that  state  of  impe;fect  maturity  at  which  the  yraceful  levity 
of  yjiith  is  lost,  and  the  solidity  of  experience  not  yet  aei|iiired.  It  is  possihle  the 
yoiiii;!:  man  may,  in  time,  trrow  wiser,  and  reform  ;  luit  if  I  understand  his  disposi- 
tion, it  is  not  of  such  corri^rihle  stuff  that  we  t-honld  hope  for  unv  amendment  in 
liini,  liefore  he  has  aecoinplished  the  destruction  of  his  coumry.  bike  other  rakes, 
lie  may,  perha|)S,  live  to  .see  his  error,  l)nt  not  until  he  has  ruined  his  estate." 

*  Charles  Townsliend  aspired  to  the  administration  of  American  affairs,  as  early 
ns  1762,  hut  had  then  a  rival  in  I,ord  Haiifix.  The  next  year  ho  was  made  First 
Lord  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  with  amjile  powers  to  carry  out  his  plans,  which  cm- 
hraced  an  entire  chanjie  in  the  colonial  constitutions  and  jrovernments,  ns  stated  in 
the  text.  He  declared  in  dehate  :  "  Sooner  than  make  our  colonies  our  allies,  I 
should  wish  to  see  them  returned  to  their  primitive  deserts."  Here  was  the  most 
em|)hatieal  denial  of  <'i/ii(illti/.  A<jain,  s])eakini;  as  a  minister  of  the  crown  :  "  It 
lias  lon<;  lieen  my  opinion  that  America  should  he  ref;ulated,  and  deprived  of  it.s 
tiiilitatin;;:  and  contradictory  charters,  and  its  royal  f;overn(n's,  jud;;es  and  attorneys 
be  rendered  iiulependent  of  the  ])eoi)le."  Still  later,  and  early  in  the  year  of  his 
death  :  "  Knixland  is  undone,  if  this  taxation  of  America  is  jfiveii  up."  Four 
months  afterwards,  in  reply  to  a  sufr^icstion  to  remove  the  troops  from  America  : 
"  The  moment  a  resolution  shall  he  taken  to  withdraw  the  army,  I  will  resif'-n  my 
ofKee,  and  have  no  more  to  do  with  ])ul)lie  affairs."  Some  idea  of  the  maf^jnii- 
cenee  of  his  scheme  of  ])atrona<:c,  may  he  formed  from  the  fact  that,  the  colonial 
governors  were  each  to  have  a  salary  of  two  thousand  pounds  sterlinfr,  which,  the 
expenses  of  livitifr  comiiared,  was  e(|ual  to  twenty  thousand  dollars  at  the  present 
tune  ;  and  the  terror  inspired  in  America  hy  his  manner  of  disposinj;  of  the  reve- 
nue, may  he  indicated  hy  statinjr  that  the  kiii};  was  to  dispose  of  the  whole  of  it  at 
Ills  pleasure,  or,  to  reward  fivoritcs  of  himself  and  of  his  ministers.  Little  is  heard 
of  Townshend  in  Parliament,  after  May,  1707.  He  was  sick  the  whole  summer  of 
1767  ;  partially  recovered,  relapsed,  was  nedeeted,  and  died  of  a  putrid  fever,  on 
the  4th  of  Sept. 

The  sentiments  of  Lord  George  Townshend  sufficiently  appear  from  a  single  re- 
mark in  the  debate  on  his  brother's  American  revenue  and  army  bill :  "  Let  us 
delii)erate  no  longer ;  let  us  act  with  vigor,  now,  while  we  can  call  "the  colonies  ours. 
If  you  do  not,  they  will  very  soon  be  lost  forever."  On  Lord  Chatham's  motion  to 
recall  the  troops  from  America,  he  said  :  "  The  question  is  not  now  barely  a  ques- 
tion of  revenue,  but  whether  that  great  commercial  system  *  *  *  *  shall  be 
di'stroycd  in  order  to  gratify  the  foolisiilv  ambitious  temper  of  a  turbulent,  ungrate- 
ful people." 

In  1787,  the  coveted  dignitj'  of  marquis  was  confen*ed  upon  him,  and  twice  ho 
held  the  office  of  Master-general  of  Ordnance.    He  died  in  1807,  in  his  84th  year. 


"1 


laws  of  uavififatlon  and  tra(l(\  Tlio  iniaoinatiou  may  liufror  to 
dream  that,  had  Pitt  sent  Goorgc  Townshciid  in  tho  expedition 
ajiiiinst  Franco,  some  chapters  in  our  hisloi-y  Avonld,  possilily, 
have  boon  ditlcrent. 

As  intimately  connected  with  Lord  Ocorgc  Townshcnd,  and 
his  brotlior  Cliarles,   the   minister,  I   now  introduce    (Miai-h's 
Paxton,  of  JJoston,  and   marshal  of   the  ecnirt    of   admiralty. 
The  former,  before  he  succeeded  to  the  peerage,  according  to 
Hmollett,  "possessed  a  very  afliuent  fortune;"  still,  when  in 
America,  he  "  borrowed "  of    Paxton  "  five  hundred  pounds 
sterling  at  least,"  which  probably  v,as  never  restored  at  all,  and 
which,  certaiidy,  remained  unpaid  after  the  lapse  of  ten  years. 
Meantime  George  had  come  to  enjoy  the  family  estates,  and  had 
often  met  Paxton  in  England  ;    and   Charles,*  disinherited  by 
his  father,  and  living  beyond  his  means,  had  become  a  mark  of 
scorn  for  stock-gambling,  while  chancellor  of  the  cxche(iuer, 
and  in  a  position  to  influence  the  market  at  ]»leasure.     In 
Boston,  and  elsewhere  in  the  colonies,  the  officers  of  the  cus- 
toms allowed  the  merchants  to  smuggle  at  will,  in  consideration 
of  hush-money  ;  and  were,  in  turn,  recjuired  to  pay  for  services 
rendered  hi  England   to   themselves.     The   whole   system   of 
colonial  patronage  was  corrupt ;  and  this  was  the  established 
and  well-known  practice.     Did  George  Townshend,  on  his  way 
home  from  Quebec,  "•  quarter  "  on  Paxton  ?     If  not,  why,  rich 
in  his  own  right,  and  as  a  peer,  was  he  so  long  a  debtor  for  bor- 
rowed money  ?     As  the  disputes  of  the  Revolutionary  war  in- 
creased, the  visits  of  Paxton  to  London  became  frequent.     He 
went  there  as  the  authorized  organ  of  the  crown  officers,  to 
complain  of  the  merchants  for  resisting  the  obnoxious  acts  of 
Parliament,  and  to  care  for  the  interests  of  himself  and  of  his 
employers.      He   possessed   "  as    much   of   the   friendship  of 
Charles  Townshend  as  a  selfish  client  may  obtain  from  an  in- 
triguing patron  ;"t  a.nd  it  is  known  that  he  was  in  England,  and 

*  Charles  Townsbjiid's  fatlicr  dirt  not  so  much  as  mciitiou  hiin  in  his  will,  Imt 
he  gave  ull  he  coiiUl  to  a  house-maid  by  whom  lie  had  three  children.  Lady 
Townsliend,  his  mother,  was  a  famous  wit,  and  her  8ayin<i;s  were  rci)eatcd  by 
everybody, 

t  Cited  from  Mr.  Bancroft,  to  whom  I  am  much  indebted.  Besides  tlie  facts  de- 
rived from  his  pages,  the  bare  mention  of  a  name  has  sometimes  oftbrded  me  a 
clue  to  investigations  elsewhere,  that  otherwise  I  could  not  have  made. 


■'  •.■'.■ 


82 


was  in  tluM-ouiiscils  of  Hint  minister  wIumi  liis  plnns  rolativo 
to  tli(^  colonics  were  dovisnd  and  iircscntt'il  to  tlic  Ilonso 
of  Conunoiis.  The  Hoanl  of  Conunissioncrs  of  the  (histonis 
was  cstaldislicfl  at  IJoston  while  Taxton  was  aldoad,  an<l  Ik;  was 
npiiointed  a  inenilter  of  it.  Did  the  ollice  conferred  liy  (Miarlos, 
cancel  (Jeorjro  TownslMMid's  dt-htV*  The  documents  of  tho 
time  show  that  Paxton  was  clKicient  and  active,  lu^yond  his 
associates.  John  Adams  says,  that  lio  was  "  tho  essence  of 
customs,  taxation,  and  revenue  ;"  and  that  lie  ajuieared  at  ono 
time  "  to  have  )»een  ffovc'rnor,  lieutcMiant  jrovm-nor,  secretary, 
and  chief  Justice."  It  was  Paxton,  when  Charles  Townshend 
Avas  at  th(!  Hoard  of  Trade,  who  applied  for  the  ludehrated 
"■  writs  of  assistance,"  hy  which  search  was  to  bo  mado  in  every 
place  suspecte<l  of  containing  smuggled  goods. 

From  the  founding  of  the  Board  of  Customs,  how  rapid 
were  the  events  that  terminated  in  Revolution !  Paxton,  and 
his  fellow-commissioners,  personally  ollendod  with  Hiincock, 
seized  ono  of  his  vessels  for  smuggling  wine,  which  caused  a 
fearful  mob,  and  the  ilight  of  ollicials  of  the  revenue  to  Castlo 
William.  Then,  came  the  hanging  of  Paxton  in  effigy,  on  the 
Libertif  Tree.  Then,  Jit  the  instance  of  the  Board,  tho  first 
troops  came  to  Boston.  Then,  the  card  of  Otis,  denouncing  tho 
commissioners  by  name  ;  tho  assault  upon  him  with  bludgeons, 
in  answer  to  it,  and  the  increased  irritation  of  tho  j)ublic  mind. 
Then,  tho  affray  near  tho  custom-house,  in  King  street,  on  tho 
Fifth  of  March.  Then,  tho  receipt  of  tho  letters  sent  from 
England  by  Franklin,  of  which,  Paxton  was  one  of  the  writers. 


*  From  vol.  '!([,  piifjjc  220,  works  of  Jolin  Adnins  : 

1769.  "  Octolu-r  19.  'J'lmrsiliiy.  J^ast  iiif>lit  I  H|tont  the  ovcninp  nt  tlu' lioiiso  of 
John  Williiiins,  Ks(|.,  tin-  rcvi'imo  officer,  in  coniijany  witli  Mr.  Otis,  Joiiatliaii 
Williams,  Ks(|.,  and  Mr.  McDaniel,  a  Scotch  trentlcman,  who  has  some  connection 
with  the  commissioners,  as  clerk,  or  somethiii};.  Williams  is  as  sly,  secret,  and 
running;  n  fellow  as  need  he.  *  *  *  In  the  course  of  the  eveniiif;  lie  said,  that 
he  knew  that  Jjord  Townshend  horrowed  money  of  I'axton,  when  in  America,  to 
the  amount  of  five  iuindred  jjounds  sterling:,  at  least,  that  is  not  paid  yet.  He  also 
said,  in  the  course  of  the  eveninjx,  that  if  he  had  drank  a  >;lass  of  wine  that  enmo 
out  of  a  seizure,  he  would  take  a  i)uke  to  throw  it  up,  he  had  .such  a  contempt  for 
the  thirds  of  seizures.  He  affects  to  speak  sli^^htly  of  the  commissioners,  and  of 
their  conduct,  thoujiii  jfuardedly,  and  to  insinuate  that  his  connections  and  interest, 
and  influence  at  home  with  the  JJoards,  ^c,  are  jireater  than  theirs." 

The  commissioners  had  power  to  ap])oint  officers  of  the  customs  at  pleasure.    The 
Declaration  of  Independence  exjjresses  the  residt  : 

"  He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent  hither  swarms  of  officers  to 
harrass  our  people,  and  eat  out  their  substance." 


«a 


TluMi,  tho  ooinmillco  of  f()rros|)()ii(l(Mio(«,  Mmt  laid  llu'  foniidatlou 
of  colonial  union.  TIkmi,  th(i  (l((strni:tion  of  tlio  tlu'0(>  earpxis 
of  toil.  Then,  tlio  simttinjj  of  tins  jiort  of  IJoston.  Tlu'ii,  tlio 
first  Continental  Con^rn'ss.  Then,  war;  war,  wliiclwost  Knj;- 
land  fivo  hnndrcd  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  Anjjrlo-Saxon 
raco  one  lumdrcd  tlionsand  liv«;s,  in  hatth;,  in  storm,  and  in 
prison,  with  all  the-  attiMulant  misiM'ios  to  snrvivors ;  war,  to 
enforce  a  wick(!d  dis(!rimination  Itotwccn  IJritish  subjects,  in 
civil,  military,  commercial,  and  j)oliti(!al  rights. 

In  the  theorif  of  a  juHM'age,  in  being  born  to  the  fortune  and 
to  the  name,  which,  under  our  institutions,  we  strive  to  nrhiei'c, 
there  is  somcithing  to  arn^st  the;  attention  ;  for,  the  thought  Is, 
that  ])eers  may  and  should,  devote  thems(!lv(!s  to  the;  good  of  the 
toiling  millions  below  them.  The  house  of  Townshend  is  Nor- 
m;in.  Jiy  union  with  the  house  of  Northampton,  it  received  two 
hundred  and  fifty  (piarterings,  including  the  royal  one  of  Plan- 
taganet.  The  two  representatives  of  wlunn  I  have  spoken,  were 
false  to  their  personal  honors,  to  their  country,  and  to  their  age. 
They  denied  the  relations  of  human  brotherhood.  By  their 
very  birth,  they  were  bound  to  promote  civilization  ;  but  they 
resisted  its  progress  even  to  blood  and  to  devastation.  The 
policy  which  they  labored  to  establish  with  unwavering  con- 
stancy, would  have  enslaved  millions  of  their  fellow  men,  and 
the  vassalage  of  our  fathers,  would  have  descended  to  us. 

The  humbler  born,  the  ill-bred  Arnold,  stands  accursed  ;  and 
yet,  he  did  but  contract  to  deliver  a  single  military  post,  in 
the  civil  war  for  which,  the  Towusheuds  will  ever  stand  in  his- 
tory as  among  the  most  responsible  authors. 

Such  were  some  of  the  consequences  of  the  "  Old  French 
War ;"  such,  the  course  of  some  of  its  prominent  actors,  and 
of  the  persons  under  their  direct  influence. 

But,  our  notice  of  military  officers  is  far  from  being  com- 
plete. Thomas  Gage,*  the  second  son  of  a  poor  nobleman,  was 
"  quartered  "  upon  the  army.      We  hear  of  him  first,  in  the 

*  He  married  in  Amcricn,  and  his  wife  was  diuighter  of  Peter  Kemble,  president 
of  tlie  couudl  of  New  Jersey,  whose  wife  was  dauf^hter  of  the  Hon.  Stephen  Van 
Cortlandt.  The  son  of  Gen.  Gage,  wiio  succeeded  to  the  peerage,  was  nephew  of 
the  2d  viscount,  and  a  major  general  in  the  army. 

5 


\ 


n4 


colonics,  ns  a  lirutPiinnt  coloiiol  on  Bimlilork's  Fit  Id,  wlioro,  n« 
is  said,  liis  ill(K!^i^ioll  lost  the  diiy,  ami  IVom  wliicli  he  led  ollllio 
hliallcn-d  aiiny.  A  y<'ar  or  two  Inter  wo  liiKi  a  IcttiT  to  tlin 
miidstrv,  ivcoiimiciidiiiii' t'idoiiial  taxation,  and  a  ooninion  niili- 
tary  I'nnd.  In  tlu;  stamp  act  dillicnltios,  after  lie  had  lieeonie 
eonunantler-in-chier  of  the  anny,  we  road  an  olVieial  conunnni- 
cation  to  his  government,  in  which  ho  says  that  the  people  of 
tho  American  colonies  wen;  'MhreatiniiiiK  to  plund(!r  and  nuir- 
dor"  sn<'h  among  them  as  purchased  stampifd  paper;  and, 
during  tho  trouldes  which  grew  out  of  the  law  for  (juartering 
troops  in  private  houses,  a  measure  much  his  own,  wo  meet 
with  a  similar  letter,  in  which  he  declares  that,  "  every  man 
hen;  studies  law,  and  interjirets  tho  law  to  suit  his  jturposes;" 
and,  that  "an  ollicer  of  rank  and  long  oxporionco,  may  ho 
cashiered  l»y  th(5  management  of  two  justices  of  tho  i)enoo,  tla; 
l)ost  of  them  the  keeper  of  a  paltry  tavern."  As  wo  follow  him 
further,  wo  sco  tho  record  of  his  presence  in  Boston,  of  his 
collisiou  with  tho  civil  authorities,  of  his  indictment  by  tho 
grand  jury,  and  of  his  assurance  to  JJornard,  that,  upon  requi- 
sition, he  would  send  him  troops.  Again,  as  if  inviting  an 
appeal  to  arms,  wo  trace  him  to  England,  and  in  consultation 
with  tho  king;  aiid  olVering  to  return  "at  a  day's  notice,  if 
coercive  measures  were  to  ho  used."  And,  linally,  taken  at  his 
word ;  and  as  tho  last  royal  and  first  military,  gov(!rnor,  of 
Massachusetts,  we  find  him  sen<ling  troops  to  Lexington  and 
Concord ;  and  soon  after,  recalled  in  disgrace,  after  retaining 
the  confidence  of  successive  administrations,  from  IJraddock's 
defeat  down  to  the  heginning  of  hostilities.  Who  shall  measure 
his  influence,  during  his  twentv  years  connexion  with  America, 
in  producing  the  rupture  ? 

His  successor,  (in  comman  '  of  the  army,)  was  Hir  AVilliam 
How^c,*  who,  too,  of  noble  family,  b(!camo  a  poor.  At  the  head 
of  the  corps  of  light  infantry,  ho  was  ordered  by  Wollc  on  tho 


♦  Sir  Williiim,  (tlicn  colonel,)  Howe,  was  sick  nt  Cnstlc  Willium,  (now  Fort  Tn- 
depciulunee, )  after  the  reduction  of  Louisiiour^,  in  1758,  iin<l  "he  always  gratefully 
unit  pnhliely  aeknowlectjred  that  Ins  recovery  was  to  be  attrihntcd  to  the  skill  and 
unceasin}!:  attention  of "  Dr.  .Tames  Lloyd,  of  Boston.  When  Sir  William  came 
apain,  in  1775,  "he  immediately  sought  out  and  renewed  liis  ac(|uaintunce  with  his 
former  physician."  In  the  lievolution,  Dr.  Lloyd  was  a  Loyalist.  His  son  James, 
was  a  Senator  in  Congress,  from  Massachusetts. 


J 


•1 


I 


Si) 


niorninj;  of  l\w  TliirtccMith  of  Sfjjtcnilx'r,  to  lead.  In  lniidiiip, 
his  troops  iuissi'<|  (lie  piitli  tliiit  Icil  up  (In- prfcipicc,  imd  piiiicil 
tho  siiniiuit  Wy  ciitcliiiiK  at  roots,  stuiu|»s,  and  Immii:Iis  of  tiiM^s. 
IIo  dislodjrcd  till)  Kicncli  puaid  ;  In"  cleared  tlio  way  for  tlio 
usc(M»t  of  tlu!  \vliol(^  division  ;  and  In  the  l)altl(',  ai-tccl  on  l\u) 
enemy's  (lanl<s.  Wlien  next  lie  eanu)  to  Anieiiea,  lie  met  us 
fo(!s,  many  of  the  colonists  who  shared  with  him  in  the  honors 
of  that  day  ;  and  their  coiidnct  on  the  meinoralile  ScMMileenlh 
of  June,  177'),  could  hut  have  tauj-ht  him  the  utter  hopeluss- 
ness  of  his  mission  of  sultjugalion. 

Sir  Menry  Clint(in,  who  followed,  as  chief  of  tho  forces,  is 
not  connected  with  our  sul»j«'ct;  and  we  jiass  to  Sir  Guy  Carle- 
ton.  In  tho  (!Xp(ulition  to  Queheir,  ho  was  (imirtor-master  gen- 
eial  ;  in  tho  l)uttl(!,  ho  comniand«Ml  the:  "  jirenadiors  of  tho 
army,"  and  was  wounded.  Uewarded,  in  a  lew  years,  hy  the 
governorship  of  tho  country  which  ho  ha.i  helped  to  win  ;  ho 
resisted  tho  invasion  of  Montgomery  ;  took  possession  of  Cnjwii 
Point ;  and,  as  the  superior,  controlled  tlu^  movements  of  IJur- 
goyno  and  Cornwallis.  The  last  military  chitH'tain  appointed  to 
Kuhduo  tho  Thirteen  States,  ho  communicated  overtures  of 
reconciliation  to  Congress  ;  and  arranged  with  Washington,  for 
tlu^  evacuation  of  New  York,  and  of  the  liritisli  ])ost  at  tho 
mouth  of  tho  Penohscot.*  And,  when  ho  was  elevated  to  the 
peerage,  as  Baron  Dorchester,  in  reward  for  his  eminent  services, 
])rinci{)ally  in  America,  ho  saw  the  survivors  of  his  colonial 
comi)anions  in  arms,  on  the  eve  of  forming  a  Federal  Union, 
and  so  taking  a  place  among  the  nations. 

How  difficult,  in  civil  war,  to  ascertain  the  truth  as  relates  to 
tho  character  of  persons.  At  tho  very  period  when  Lord 
George  Germain,  as  minister,  wrote  to  Carleton  that  it  had 
pleased  the  king  to  place  him  over  Burgoyne  and  Cornwallis, 
and  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and  others  in  the  Lords,  were  say- 
ing that  there  was  not  a  more  valuable  officer  in  the  service, 
and,  that  his  private  life  was  estimable :  several  distinguished 
men  of  the  Revolution,  held  him  in  utter  contempt.  Thus, 
Montgomery  wrote  that  he  supposed  Carleton  was  ashamed  to 

*  Sparks'  Washington  pontnins  quite  a  correspondence  on  the  subject.    The  two 
Chiefs  had,  also,  an  interview. 


^1 


36 


show  himself  in  England  ;  Gerry,  i.mt  his  general  orders  dis- 
covered him  to  be  a  brute  ;  and  Schuyler,  that  his  conduct  had 
put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  Whigs  to  have  any  intercourse 
with  him. 

A  word  more  of  three  others.  Robert  Monckton,  the  senior 
brigadier  under  Wolfe,  was  the  second  son  of  viscount  Galway. 
In  1754,  he  was  a  lieutenant  colonel,  and  in  Boston  with  pro- 
posuls  to  Shirlev  to  raise  two  thousand  men  for  service  in  Nova 
Scotia.  A  qu^jstion  of  rank  arose  between  him  and  General 
Winslow,  which  the  Governor  adroitly  disposed  of  by  giving 
each  a  separate  command.  Monckton  assisted  in  removing  the 
Acadians,  in  lTo5  ;  and  after  the  conquest  of  Quebec,  was  gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  and  chief  of  the  successful  expedition 
against  Martinico.  lie  attained  the  rank  of  licatenant  general. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  "  brave,  opeji-hearted,  and  liberal."* 
James  Murray,  the  junior  general  at  Quebec,  was  a  brother  of 
the  duke  of  Atholl ;  and,  the  first  military  governor  of  Canada 
after  the  conquest,  he  advised  the  continuance  of  the  system  of 
martial  rule,  and  of  addition  to  its  territory  westerly,  "  hi  order 
to  over-awe  the  older  colonies,  and  keep  them  in  fear  and  sub- 
mission."! Brave,  but  imprudent  and  inconsiderate,  and  of  a 
character  to  koep  the  public  sentiment  divided  as  to  his  merits  ; 
he  was  tried  by  a  court  martial,  finally,  for  professional  incom- 
petence. He  represented  the  county  of  Perth  in  five  Parlia- 
ments, «^nd  became  a  major  general. 

For  a  while,  there  wus  one  officer  of  rank  who  was  true  to 
America.  Isaac  Barr^,  was  Wolfe's  adjutant  general,  and  of 
his  own  selection.  Tliey  crossed  the  ocean  ui  the  same  ship. 
He  was  near  his  Chief  when  he  fell,  and  received  a  wound  him- 
self which  "  ultimately  made  him  blind."§  "  I  had  lingered  a 
subaltern  officer  eleven  years,"  he  wrote  Pitt,  in  1760,  when  the 

*  An  autof^raph  letter  boforc  mo,  written  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1755,  shows  a  prac- 
ticed pen  aiid  a  clear  mind. 

t  Declaration  of  Independence,  refeniufr  to  what  was  then  called  the  Province  of 
Quebec  ;  "  For  aliolishinjif  the  free  system  of  Enjilish  laws  in  a  neiffhborinj;  prov- 
hice,  establisliin}:  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and  eidarfrinp;  its  boundaries  so 
as  to  make  it  at  once  an  example  and  tit  iustrumeut  for  introducing  the  same  abso- 
lute rule  into  these  colonies." 

§  liarre',  in  a  letter  to  Vitt,  Dated  New  York,  April  28,  1760  :  "  My  left  eye  ren- 
dered useless,  and  the  ball  still  iu  my  head."  He  lost  his  sight  twenty  years' previ- 
ous to  his  death. 


37 


Goneral's  "  opinion  of  mc  rescued  me  from  obscurity  ;"  and,  he 
added,  "  by  tbe  neglect  I  have  met  with  "  since  his  loss,  "■  I  am 
apprehensive  that  my  pretensions  are  to  be  buried  with  my  only 
protector  and  friend." 

West,  in  his  celebrated  picture.  The  Death  of  Wolfe,  to  the 
displeasure  of  the  artists  of  the  time,  represented  the  different 
figures  in  living  costume,  in  boots  and  buttons,  in  laced  coats 
and  cocked  hats.*  Barrd  is  seen  as  one  of  a  group  of  officers 
collected  to  witness  the  closing  scene.  Barrd's  career  in  Par- 
liament is  too  familiar  to  need  notice  here.  For  his  votes 
against  the  ministry,  he  was  dismissed  from  the  army.  Every 
school-boy  has  by  heart,  his  admirable  speech  in  reply  to  Charles 
Townshend,  who  had  said  in  eloquent  and  labored  terms,  that 
America  was  planted  by  the  "  care,"  and  "  nourished  "  by  the 
"  indulgence,"  of  England.  Boston,  grateful  for  his  opposition 
to  the  stamp  act,  asked  for  his  picture  to  grace  Fanueil  Hall, 
and  it  was  placed  there  ;  but  it  disappeared  early  in  the  Revo- 
lution, and  while  the  British  troops  were  in  possession.  The 
town  of  Barr<i,  however,  per[)etuatps  his  name  in  Massachusetts. 
He  declared  in  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the  idea  of  reduc- 
ing the  colonies  by  force,  was  "  wild,  incoherent,  and  impracti- 
cable ;"  but  yet,  he  finally  fell  off,  and  voted  for  the  Boston 
Port  Bill.     In  after  life,  he  held  several  offices. 

Thus  intimately  connected  were  the  two  wars ;  the  second, 
politically  considered,  the  result  of  the  first ;  with  the  same 
actors  in  both.  Fighting  side  by  side  to  annex  the  possessions 
of  France  to  their  common  country,  were  Loudoun,  and  Aber- 
crombie,  Amherst  and  Townshend,  Gage  and  Howe,  Carleton, 
and  Murray,  and  Barrd  :  "Washington,  the  "  frontier  Colonel," 
who  came  first  to  Boston  to  supj)licatc  the  Chief  of  the 
British  forces,  that  he  might  not  be  compelled  to  obey  the  orders 
of  a  captain  of  the  regulars,  and  who  came  next,  himself,  the 

*  In  biofirapliy  of  West :  "  Lord  Grosvenor,  (lisrefrnnlinjr  the  frowns  of  tlie 
ameteurs,  iind  the  cold  approbation  of  the  Academy,  pnrcliased  the  work."  *  *  ♦ 
"  The  kin}^  questioned  West  conccrnin>r  tiie  ])icture,  and  put  him  on  iiis  defense  of 
this  new  heresy  in  art."  *  *  *  Sir  Joshna  Reynolds,  owned,  finally,  that 
the  subject  was  treated  as  it  oufjht  to  have  been,  and  retracted  his  objections.  "  I 
foresee,"  he  said,  "  that  this  ])icture  will  not  only  Itecome  one  of  the  most  popular, 
but  will  occasion  !\  revolution  in  art."  "  I  wish,"  remarked  the  kinfr,  "  that  I  had 
known  kU  this  before,  for  the  objection  has  been  the  laeuiis  of  Lord  Grosvcnor's 
getting  it ;  but  you  shall  make  a  copy  for  me." 


88 


chief  of  the  American  armies;  and  Mercer,  and  Gates,  and 
Morgan ;  the  two  Putnams,  and  the  two  Clintons  ;  and  Nixon, 
and  Tiiomas ;  Irvine,  Gibson,  Atloe,  Bradford,  Prescott,  and 
Butler,  and  .Stark,  and  Bull,  and  Spencer :  and  a  long  roll  of 
officers  of  inferior  rank.  While  in  the  army  of  Wolfe,  were 
Preble*,  the  first  elected  commander  of  the  forces  of  Massa- 
chusetts ;  the  able,  graceful  Montgomery  ;t  and  Gridley,  who 
laid  out  theworks  on  Bunker  Hill ;  and  the  worthy,  but  unfor- 
tunate, St.  Clair. 

The  English  born,  as  we  have  seen,  were  honored  and  ad- 
vanced ;  the  American  born  were  allowed  to  return  to  the 
pursuits  of  private  life,  unnoticed,  even  wronged.  In  the  lapse 
of  years,  both  appeared  again  on  the  scene  of  affairs  ;  the  first, 
as  leaders  to  preserve,  the  second,  as  leaders  to  dismember,  the 
British  empire.  As  now,  I  conclude  the  topic,  I  venture  to 
suggest,  that,  as  students  of  liistory,  we  are  bound  to  connect 
the  victory  on  the  highlands  of  Quebec  with  the  capitulation  at 
Yorktown,  as,  with  our  limited  knowledge  of  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  political  events,  we  pronounce  upon  CLUse  and 
effect. 

Thus  naturally,  by  my  own  course  of  thought,  certainly,  do 
we  come  to  another  head  of  our  discourse,  and  to  speak  of  the 


*  Jeilcdinh  Preble,  of  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  and  the  first  of  the  name  who 
settled  there.  Two  commissions  of  ca])tain,  one  si>^ned  by  Siiirley,  of  Massat'liu- 
jCtts,  1 746,  and  the  other  the  year  following,  by  him  and  by  Knowles,  Governor  of 
Cape  Brcto!!,  have  been  preserved.  He  was  engaged  in  the  unpleasant  duty  of 
removing  the  Acadians,  in  1755,  under  Winslow.  In  the  battle  of  Sept.  13,  1759, 
he  was  near  Wolfe,  and  was  himself  wounded  in  the  thigh.  The  bullet  struck  his 
broad-flapped  waistcoat,  and  drew  a  piece  of  that  gannent  into  the  wound,  which 
was  long  preserved  in  the  family.  The  tradition  is,  that  he  was  the  first  white  man 
who  went  to  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington;  its  very  words,  that  the  "Briga- 
dier had  gone  up  and  washed  his  hands  in  the  clouds."  He  declined  the  command 
of  the  Massachusetts  forces,  on  account  of  ill  health  and  advanced  years.  His  son. 
Com.  Edward  Preble,  U.  S.  Navy,  was  very  distingushed.  It  hardly  need  be 
added,  that  all  the  oflicers  nam.ed  in  the  text,  Preble  and  Gridley  alone  excepted, 
commanded  divisions,  brigades,  or  regiments,  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  In 
service  in  the  French  war,  also,  were  four  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence: Paine  of  Massachusetts,  Lewis  of  New  York,  Wolcott  of  Conn.,  and 
Franklin  of  Pcnu. 

In  the  field  at  the  South,  engaged  against  the  Indians,  were,  Moultrie,  of  South 
Carolina,  who.sc  defense  of  Sullivan's  Island  in  the  Revolution,  conferred  great 
honor ;  Pickens,  and  Marion,  the  two  partisan  officers.  Elsewlici o,  wc  find,  Ran- 
dolph, first  President  of  the  Continental  Congress;  Gadsen,  called  the  "John 
Adams  of  the  South,"  and  Calhoun,  father  of  the  great  statesman. 

t  Wolfe,  at  Louisbourg,  found  Montgomery  "  a  humble  officer,"  in  his  own 
brigade,  and  gave  him  the  commission  of  lieutenant. 


89 


i*w'ii':-- 


c  man 


I  son, 


Victor,  on  the  day  we  celebrate.  At  my  time  of  life,  hero-wor- 
ship does  not  become  mo.  Edward  Braddoek,  shared  the 
infamous  wages  of  an  infamous  woman,  and  was  a  drunlcen 
gamlder  ;  insensible  as  a  brute,  ever,  he  did  but  utter  a  heart- 
less jest,  when  his  sister,  a  maiden  of  beautiful  person  and  of 
cultivated  mind,  and  the  victim  to  gambling  and  to  misplaced, 
yet  innocent  love,  committed  suicide.  Was  the  British  major 
general,  of  whom  I  am  to  address  you,  liivc  Jiim  ?  Or,  if  not 
positively  bad,  was  James  Wolfe,  still  distinguished  principally, 
for  mere  bravery  ?  I  do  not  care  to  dwell  upon  and  to  praise, 
so  common  a  quality  in  the  human  race  as  personal  courage,  or 
disregard  of  danger  and  of  death.  Fools  and  pretenders  are 
alike  renowned  :n  history,  as  winners  of  great  battles  ;  and  both 
have  worn  stolen  laurels,  and  suborned  or  cheated  chroniclers 
in  every  age  and  country.  Have  ice  assembled  here  to  honor  a 
man  void  of  understanding,  or  one  whose  fame  belongs  to  an- 
other ?  The  death  of  Wolfe,  is  considered  by  persons  of  his  own 
profession,  I  suppose,  as  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  and  glori- 
ous, in  the  annals  of  war ;  but,  can  we  discuss  his  character  in 
our  homes,  without  reserve  ? 

Sketches  of  his  life,  of  a  page  or  two,  abound  ;  but,  original 
materials  on  which  to  found  an  opinion,  with  reasons  for  every 
conclusion,  are  few,  scfittered,  and  fragmentary.*  The  princi- 
pal sources  of  information  accessible  to  me,  are  his  military 
orders,  upwards  of  fifty  in  number,  and  his  dispatches  to  the 
ministry  ;  the  journal  of  one  of  his  officers  ;f  an  occasional  let- 
ter of  his  own  ;  the  correspondence  of  some  of  the  public  men 
of  his  time  ;  and  the  incidental  mention  of  him,  in  the  lives  of 
uirvil  officers  who  served  with  him  in  the  St.  Lawrence.  But 
loi  t't!  pretensions  of  George  Townshend  :  the  equivocal  notice 
of  lum  la  the  brief  note  of  Monckton  to  Pitt :  and  the  text  of 
Hutchinson,  who,  a  principal  actor  in  the  affairs  of  Massachu- 
setts, was  personally  concerned  in  measures  to  prosecute  the 


.;i  I 


1  'i. 


■ii 


^^^. 


Ran- 
'John 


*  It  is  stated  in  several  ^vt)rks,  that  his  Life,  embracing  liis  Corrcspondenee,  was 
published  in  London,  in  1827  ;  but  such  is  not  the  fact.  It  was  then  announced. 
Southey  undertook  tiio  ta.sk  of  biographer  and  editor,  but  abandoned  it ;  and  so  did 

Gleig. 

t  Historical  Journal  of  the  Campaigns  in  North  America,  1757,  1758,   1759, 
1760,  &e.,  &c.     By  Capt.  John  Knox,  dedicated  by  permission  to  Lt.  Gen.  Sir 
efti-cy  Amherst.     London,  1769. 


f'i 


^0 


war  with  vigor,  and  who,  at  his  request,  in  the  absence  of  the 
governor,  sent  liim  a  reinforcement  during  the  seigo  ;  but  for 
these,  I  should  say,  that  the  name  of  General  Wolfe  is  always 
pronounced  with  emphatic  praise. 

"When  a  young  lieutenant,  he  won  reputation  for  skill  and 
genius,  in  Germany.  When  quartermaster-general  in  an  expe- 
dition to  the  coast  of  France,*  while  his  superiors  were  disput- 
ing about  the  possibility  of  a  descent,  he  landed,  penetrated  the 
country,  and  earnestly  urged  invasion  ;  and  was  applauded  and 
promoted  by  Pitt,  who  censured  them4  The  youngest  of  the 
brigadiers  at  Louisbourg,  he  still  conducted  the  principal  ope- 
rations of  the  seige ;  and  his  services  were  duly  and  off  "ially 
acknowledged  by  the  commander-in-chief.  When  he  commu- 
nicated to  Ami  1  ^It;  design  of  quitting  the  army,  he  was  told 
in  reply :  "  I  can  ao  means  agree  to  it.  *  *  *  I  know 
nothing  that  can  tend  more  to  the  good  of  His  Majesty's  service 
than  your  assisting  in  it."  At  the  early  age  of  thirty-three,§ 
he  was  selected  from  the  long  roll  of  generals,  by  England's 
great  minister,  to  lead  the  hazardous  expedition,  of  a  campaign 
which  was  meant  to  be  decisive  ;  and  he  modestly  answered  : 
"  1  have  no  objection  to  serving  in  America,  and  particularly  in 
the  river  St.  Lawrence  ;'  ||  with  the  simple  condition  that  he 
might  remain  a  while  Avith  his  mother,  to  repair  his  shattered 
health.  Arrived  at  the  scene  of  operations,  we  are  to  see  that 
he  wore  out  his  very  life  in  thought,  in  solving  the  "  difficulties  " 

*  Walpole,  referrinfr  to  tliis  affair,  says  :  "  Wolfe,  who  was  no  friend  of  Mr. 
Coiuvay  last  year,  and  for  whom  I  lonsequcntly  have  no  aftectlon,  has  great  merit, 
8j)irit,  and  alacrity,  and  shone  extremely  at  Louisl)oiir{i:." 

J  Higid  in  discipline,  he  trained  the  very  six  l)attalions  that  saved  the  army  from 
the  consequences  of  Sackville's  delinquency  at  Mindcn. 

One  of  his  eulogists,  in  1760,  states  his  claims  in  these  strong  words:  "  I  say 
again,  it  was  the  instinct  of  thy  capacity,  that  conquered  in  the  plains  of  Minden  ; 
thy  spirit,  thy  devotion,  presence  of  mind,  and  judgmctU,  were  jiresent  at  the  battle ; 
they  guided  the  work  thy  hands  had  fashioned  ;  and  this  work  overthrew  the  enemy 
with  great  slaughter.  All  Europe  heard  of  it,  and  was  amazi.'d.  Britain  knew 
then  her  son  to  he  the  author  of  it,  and  therei'ore  she  now  records  the  glory  of  it  in 
her  annals,  to  thy  immortal  honor." 

§  He  was  horn  at  Westcrham,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  November  6,  1726,  and 
was  baptized  there  on  the  following  11th  of  January.  At  the  time  of  his  birth,  his 
father  rented  the  vicarage  house.  "  Quebec  hou^e  became  the  scat  of  the  family," 
says  Glieg,  "  at  a  later  period." 

11  This  letter  is  dated  St.  James  Street,  London,  Nov.  22,  1758.  A  few  days 
after,  Wolfe  was  commissioned  as  major  general,  and  appointed  to  the  cliief  com- 
mand. 


I 


41 


ties 

of  Mr. 
merit, 

IV  from 

I  say 
indcn ; 
!  battle ; 
)  enemy 
in  knew 
of  it  in 

26,  and 
rth,  his 
amily," 

!W  days 
ef  coni- 


of  the  enterprise.  Dearly  enough  did  he  earn  the  statue  which 
Massachusetts  voted ;  and  tlie  cenotapli  whicli  England  voted 
and  erected  ! 

In  private  life  there  seems  little  reason  to  douht  that  Wolfe 
was  a  gentleman  of  pure  morals  and  of  religious  alfections.* 
Tiiat  he  was  generally  loved,  is  certain  ;  and,  to  believe  those 
who  knew  him  intimately,  he  possessed  almost  every  virtue. 
Conscious  of  ability,  he  was  still  deferential,  and  modest ;  high 
toned,  he  was  neither  malignant  nor  irritable  ;  benevolent,  he 
sought  out  the  needy,  and  gave  to  profusion  ;  manly  in  senti- 
ment, he  was  yet  as  gentle  and  tender  as  a  woman  ;  conscious 
of  his  own  frailties,  he  bore  patiently  the  faults  of  others  ;  cau- 
tious to  form,  he  was  careful  to  preserve,  friendships ;  frank 
and  sincere,  implicit  faith  was  placed  in  his  word ;  and  at  times 
he  was  lively,  even  to  boyish  sportiveness. 

The  common  account  is,  that  he  was  "  daring  "  and  "  pre- 
sumptuous," by  intuition.  Such,  I  confess,  is  not  my  own 
impression.  In  a  familiar  rule  in  mathematics,  by  means  of 
three  numbers  given,  we  find  a  fourth,  which  solves  the  ques- 
tion ;  and  the  principle  will  ordinarily  serve  to  determine  char- 
acter, individuality.  Wolfe,  by  nature,  was  adapted  to  the 
pulpit,  rather  than  the  camp ;  and,  I  imagine  that  his  life  in 
the  army,  was  one  continued  sacrifice  of  self.  He  bore  a  com- 
mission when  a  boy  of  fourteen.     His  father,f  attained  the 

*  The  point  of  Wolfe's  private  character  has  been  carefully  examined.  Great 
allowance  is  always  to  be  made  in  the  statements  which  appear  soon  after  a  man's 
decease,  and  while  the  public  mind  is  excited  by  his  loss,  and  by  rejoicings  on  his 
acliievements ;  but,  unless  wo  reject  the  sentiments  expressed  in  letters  of  his  per- 
sonal friends,  and  of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  his  time,  as  well  as  the 
positive  declarations  of  the  ministers  in  America  and  in  England,  who  pronounced 
funeral  sermons  or  eulogies,  we  must  conclude  that  he  was  a  gentleman  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  word  as  commonly  used,  and  was  "  inspn*ed  with  a  deep  sense 
of  religion,"  also. 

t  Edward  Wolfe,  "a  veteran  from  the  wars  of  Marlborough;"  ho  died  27th 
March,  1759.  There  are  seeming  disagreements  as  to  his  rank.  The  inscription 
on  one  of  the  cenotaphs  to  his  son,  gives  him  the  title  of  "  colonel,"  and  the  same 
appears  in  an  P^nglish  Eulogy  ;  but  he  is  called  a  "  lieutenant  general,"  in  the  Cor- 
respondence of  Chatham,  and  "general,"  by  his  widow,  and  by  Gleig.  The 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1 759,  witliout  a  word  of  comment,  records  his  decease 
thus :  "  Lt.  Gen.  Edw.  Wolfe,  col.  of  the  8th  Reg.  of  foot."  The  difficulty  may 
be  solved,  perhaps,  by  suggesting  that  Generals  were  still  Colonels  of  regiments.  In 
the  proclamation  of  Gen.  James  Wolfe  to  the  Canadians  the  daj^  after  landing  on 
the  Isle  of  Orleans,  he  styles  himself  "  Colonel  of  a  regiment  of  Infantrv,  Major 
General,  and  Commander-in-chief  of  His  Britannic  Majesty's  Forces  in  the  kiver  St. 
Lawrence,  &c.,  &c." 

6 


"i  ''V 


I', ' 


i 


42 


rank  of  lieutonant  general.  The  profession  of  arms  was  the 
most  honorable  of  the  age  ;  and  nobles  and  persons  of  fortune, 
clamored  m  every  avenue  of  influence,  to  enter  it.  What  more 
probable  than  that,  under  these  circumstances,  the  gentle, 
yielding  lad,  did  but  obey  his  parent ;  and,  that  once  in  service, 
and  his  country  incessantly  in  war,  his  sense  of  honor  did  not 
allow  him  to  retire. 

In  many  things,  he  and  Nelson  were  alike.  Both  were  deli- 
cate in  body,  and  frequent  sufferers  by  disease  ;  both  secured  in 
an  eminent  degree  the  love  and  confidence  of  companions  in 
arms ;  both  were  as  natural  and  single-hearted  as  in  childhood  ; 
both  tasked  the  mind  beyond  the  physical  ability  to  bear  ;  and 
both  were  sensitive  to  a  fault.  Nelson,  as  is  well  known,  had 
periods  of  gloom  and  sadness ;  mental  moods  when  there  was 
nothing  in  life  but  vexation  and  trouble  ;  when  he  felt  that  his 
heart  was  breaking,  and  when  he  would  have  quitted  the  world 
with  a  smile.  Wolfe,  so  similar,  in  other  respects,  was,  I  con- 
jecture, much  of  the  same  temperament.  The  sky-colored 
imps,  in  reflecting  upon  a  movement  for  which  he  was  responsi- 
ble, had  the  first  possession  of  his  brain.  It  is  for  the  want  of 
thinking  that  most  men  are  undone  ;  but,  and  as  all  persons  of 
acute  sensibilities  do,  he  thought  too  much  for  his  happiness. 
The  hopeful,  act  promptly,  upon  impulse,  with  a  bare  glance  at 
the  bright ;  to  others,  there  is  a  dark  side  to  muse  upon,  long, 
and  in  pain  ;  the  chances  of  failure,  of  disgrace,  to  be  reasoned 
over  and  to  be  reasoned  out.  The  first,  yield  to  the  slightcbt 
discouragement,  and  are  the  wrecked  ones  in  life  ;  the  last,  the 
final  resolve  once  taken,  do  or  die,  or,  die  in  doing.  As  men 
really  do  differ  in  individuality  as  widely  as  the  oak  and  the 
aspen,  the  world  will  have  it  that  the  strong  and  the  sturdy  are 
by  nature  the  warriors,  and  the  weak  and  the  fragile  are  the 
civilians,  of  society.  Taught  by  poets  and  orators,  we  invest 
our  modern  victors  with  the  qualities  of  the  heroes  of  antiquity, 
and  even  with  those  of  the  gods  of  heathen  mythology,  includ- 
ing, sometimes,  infernal  Pluto  himself.  With  all  deference,  I 
venture  to  say,  that  this  is  entirely  wrong.  Tell  the  boy  of 
gentle  and  affectionate  disposition,  and  of  frail  body,  that  the 
brave  resemble  Hercules,  or  Neptune,  or  Jove,  or  Mars,  and 


48 


i\  ' 


he  is  discouraged  ;  but  teach  hiin  that  he  can  be  trained,  edu- 
cated to  deeds  of  heroism,  and  that,  if  he  will  but  overcome, 
day  by  day,  the  "  difhculties  "  with  his  fellows,  he  will  be  sure 
to  bear  his  trials  in  manhood  like  a  hero,  be  these  tests  in  busi- 
ness or  in  battle :  and  he  is  inspired  with  ambition.  The  histance 
before  us  is  not  without  a  lesson.  Wolfe,  though  not  com- 
pared with  either  of  the  deities,  is  still  called  the  "  British 
Achilles."  Never  was  there  a  more  unfortunate  appellation,  if 
truth  be  thought  worthy  of  regard  in  illustrations  of  character 
by  comparison.  The  wise,  the  thoughtful,  the  mild,  the  poetic 
Briton  ;  how  different  from  the  rash,  the  impetuous,  the  furious 
Greek  ?  Wolfe,  "  heard  the  lute  of  Hope  in  sleep,"  and  "  the 
voice  of  Love  in  dreams ;"  and  lingered  over  books  "  where 
sweet  Wisdom  smiles ;"  and  his  soul  dwelt  in  the  temple 
"  roofed  with  Sculpture  and  Poesy."  His  memory  was  full  of 
former  years,  and  of  the  sports  of  his  boyhood.  He  had  heav- 
enly visions  of  wedded  love,  and  as  the  shadows  of  evening  fell 
on  his  camp*  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  yearned  for  a  mate  and  a 
home,  even  as  the  absent  dove  sighs  for  its  nest ;  and  yet,  he 
perished  of  choice  at  the  post  of  duty !  But  though  unlike 
Achilles,  he  does,  indeed,  remind  us  of  the  truly  great  Hector :  if 
not  in  "  manly  beauty  and  superior  size,"  yet  in  endurance,  in 
love  of  mercy,  and  in  all  the  nobler  and  finer  qualities  of 
human  nature.  Of  the  Briton,  as  of  the  Trojan,  how  true  to 
say  that  he  was  never  guilty  of 


and  that 


"  A  deed  ungentle,  or  a  word  unkind ;" 

*    *    *    "The  gods  had  joined 

The  mildest  manners  and  the  bravest  mind." 


The  two  in  death,  how  like  ;  both  went  into  the  last  contest, 
weary,  faint,  exhausted.  Let  the  young  who  listen  to  me,  take 
courage  ;  and  forgetting  even  Hector,  divest  the  imagination  of 
every  false  idea  of  heroism,  and  think  only  of  the  real  and  the 
true. 

Our  books  of  history  are  too  limited  to  allow  a  full  narra- 

*  His  quarters  on  shore  in  "  a  tolerable  house,"  says  Knox,  on  a  visit  when  he 
found  the  General  sick,  and  unable  to  leave  liis  chamber. 


'Vl 


mmii 


44 


tive  of  Wolfe's  campaign  ;  and  tliougli  wo  find  many  facts  and 
coiuslnsions  stated  with  niiicli  skill  and  powor,  a  projKn-  knowl- 
edge of  it  can  be  obtained  only  by  an  examination  of  the  docu- 
ments which  relate  to  it.  The  opinion  of  men  of  his  own 
profession,  that  in  military  affairs,  "  he  was  by  no  means  inferior 
to  a  Frederick,  a  Henry,  or  a  Ferdinand,"  we  will  leave  undis- 
turbed ;  but,  we  may  ])resume  to  judge  of  his  intellect  for  our- 
selves, and  by  the  simple  rules  of  evidence. 

The  pertinent  inquiry  is,  then,  whether,  in  the  use  of  the 
means  placed  at  his  disposal  by  his  government,  he  evhiced  abil- 
ity ;  and  in  determining  the  question,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that 
siiccess,  or  the  want  of  it,  is  not  an  element.  We  are  concerned 
to  know  barely  this :  What  was  the  plan  of  operations  in  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  what  did  he  do  to  execute  it  ? 

The  conquest  of  Quebec  was  one  of  the  "  visions  "  of  Pitt,  at 
which  men  sneered.  An  Admiral,  who  appeared  before  it  in 
Queen  Anne's  time,  hurried  out  of  the  river,  because  "  the  ice, 
freezing  to  the  bottom,  would  bilge  his  vessels,"  and  because,  to 
preserve  them,  he  "  must  place  them  on  dry  ground,  in  forms 
and  cradles,  till  the  thaw ;"  and,  though  naval  officers  were 
somewhat  better  informed,  half  a  century  later,  none  desired  to 
command  there ;  and  some,  in  the  brief  manner  of  the  quar- 
ter-deck, disposed  of  the  suggestion  of  acting  there  efficiently, 
with  a  shrug,  and  the  word  "  Impracticable."  But  the  omnij)- 
otent  will  of  the  Minister  equipped  a  fleet  which  mounted  just 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-six  cannon  ;  and  an  Officer  was 
expressly  ordered  from  the  Mediterranean,  to  take  charge  of 
it.J  Could  this  immense  armament  have  performed  the 
expected  service,  once  in  chosen  position  of  attack,  Quebec 
would  hardly  have  escaped  demolition  for  a  single  day.  Unfor- 
tunately enough,  however,  the  ships  of  war  drew  too  much 
water  to  assail,  with  any  effect  whatever,  the  French  entrench- 
ments on  the  bank  of  the  river  ;  and,  more  than  all,  their  guns 

t  Sir  Cliarlcs  Saunders,  vice-admiral  of  the  blue.  Subsequently,  he  was  vice- 
admiral  of  i.lie  white,  a  lord  of  the  admiralty,  comptroller  of  the  navy,  and  admiral 
of  Jhc  blue;  and  member  of  Parliament  from  the  borough  of  Heyden.  He  died  in 
1775,  and  was  i)rivately  liuried  in  Westminster  Abl)ey,  near  the  monument  of  his 
iriend  Wolfe.  Sir  Charles  was  called  the  most  silent  man  in  England.  He  was 
good-natured  and  extremely  modest,  of  simple  manners  and  generous  disposition. 

Holmes,  a  junior  admiral  at  Quebec,  was  appointed  Commander-in-chief  on  tho 
Jamaica  station,  in  1760,  and  died  there  the  following  year. 


45 


could  not  bo  elevated  to  Itcar  ui»on  and  batter  the  fortifications 
of  the  city.  Thus,  for  the  purpose  designed,  the  naval  force 
was  useless  ;  and  this  ascertained,  Wolfe  attempted  to  overcome 
his  first  "  difiiculty,"  by  the  erection  of  several  land-batteries. 
With  these,  he  injured  the  upper  town,  and  nearly  reduced  the 
lower  one  to  ruins.  As  careful  an  estimate  as  1  can  make  from  the 
daily  accounts,  shows  two  hundred  and  four  hours  of  cannonading 
and  bombarding.  Ninety-six  shells  ami  carcasses  were  thrown 
into  the  city  on  one  day  ;  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  on  another, 
besides  a  perfect  storm  of  cannon  balls.  Late  in  August,  the 
discharge  of  both  ordnance  and  cannon  was  limited  by  order  ; 
but,  at  the  rate  fixed,  the  number  in  twenty-four  hours,  was 
equal  to  the  firing  of  one  piece,  five  hundred  and  seventy  times. 

It  was  summer ;  but  the  record  of  disasters  by  rains,  and 
hails,  and  winds,  appears  almost  incredible.  Transports  and 
boats  were  driven  on  shore,  and  broken,  and  lost.  In  one  tem- 
pest, the  fixed  ammunition  was  so  badly  damaged,  that  one  hun- 
dred thousand  new  cartridges  were  to  be  prepared  with  all 
haste  ;  and  in  a  second,  an  encampment  was  so  entirely  flooded 
as  to  be  laid  under  water.  Wolfe,  in  his  impatience  to  fight 
Montcalm,  as  well  as  to  destroy  his  works,  attacked  him  at 
Montmorenci ;  and  he  was  repulsed  with  serious  loss,  during  a 
commotion  of  the  elements,  which  made  the  precipices  he  de- 
signed to  scale  too  slippery  to  be  ascended,  and  which  was  so 
violent  and  dreadful,  that  the  journalist  declares  his  inability  to 
describe  it.  These  are  the  more  noticeable  incidents ;  but  these, 
and  the  general  effects  of  the  weather,  form  the  second  unex- 
pected "  difficulty." 

Nearly  two  months  passed  in  this  kind  of  warfare,  and  evi- 
dently the  young  general  was  sorely  distressed.  His  restless 
mind  was  ever  on  the  stretch.  He  devised  three  distinct  and 
separate  plans  of  assault  upon  Montcalm  in  his  intrenchmonts, 
which  his  brigadiers  unanimously  rejected.  He  suggested  the 
storming  of  the  city,  and  was  overruled  by  his  chief  engineer. 
He  entertained  the  design  of  wintering  in  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  of  constructhig  a  large  fortress,  but  abandoned  it,  after  re- 
peated discussion,  because  there  were  neither  materials  nor 
time. 


40 


He  personally  explored  every  point  wliero  it  was  supposed  ho 
could  land  troops,  luid  Wnn)  a  lif.'lit ;  ho  p(!rsonally  took  part  iu 
skirmishes ;  lie  personally  directt.'d  in  the  batteries  ;  he  jjorson- 
ally  cnlorced  the  police  of  his  eanip  to  preserve  its  health,  its 
morals,  and  thus,  its  oHieiency. 

Meantime,  at  midni^•ht,  while  thousands  shouted  defianco, 
and  cannon  halls  rattled  among  the  rocks  and  trees  on  the 
shores,  the  river  was  lighted  up  hy  the  French  fire-rafts,  which, 
of  terrific  appearance,  and  constructed  of  vessels,  shallops,  and 
stages,  chained  together,  and  several  hundred  feet  long,  and 
covered  with  combustibles,  and  bombs,  and  various  khids  of 
small  arms,  loaded  to  the  muzzle,  were  sent  down  to  destroy  the 
fleet ;  and,  meantime,  too,  at  night,  the  town  often  seemed  a 
mass  of  flame,  as  the  hot  shot  and  shells  of  the  bcseigers, 
burned  whole  streets  in  one  section,  many  of  the  most  magnifi- 
cent private  houses,  churches,  and  public  edifices  in  a  second, 
and  the  great  cathedral  with  all  its  paintings  and  other  decora- 
tions in  still  another. 

What  was  there  more  for  Wolfe  to  do  ?  By  the  plan  of  the 
campaign,  his  own  soldiers  were  to  perform  a  secondary  part  only, 
for,  as  we  have  said,  they  were  to  be  assisted  by  the  formidable 
armament ;  and  Amherst,  was  to  have  joined  him  with  his 
army.  Without  aid  from  cither ;  his  eight  thousand  troops  re- 
duced to  seven,  by  the  losses  at  Montmorenci  and  elsewhere  ; 
the  naval  officers  continually  anxious  for  the  safety  of  the  ships 
and  transports ;  why  did  he  not  abandon  the  expedition,  and 
depart  ?  In  America,  he  could  have  plead  the  example  of  Lou- 
doun, when  sent  against  Louisbourg,  and  of  Abercrombie  be- 
fore Ticonderoga  ;  in  Europe,  he  could  have  cited  the  course  of 
Cumberland  in  Hanover,  and  of  Conway  off"  Rochfort ;  and  in 
India,  the  conduct  of  the  military  governor  of  Calcutta. 

"  From  fame  to  infamy,  is  a  beaten  road  ;"  and  the  sentiment 
of  that  maxim,  though  the  bane  of  his  mental  peace,  was  the 
incentive  of  his  professional  life.  Those  who  enjoyed  his  con- 
fidence, often  heard  him  sigh,  and,  in  his  despondency,  declare, 
that  if  he  failed,  he  would  never  go  back  to  England,  to  be  ex- 
posed to  the  reproaches,  in  insults,  of  a  capricious  people, 
equally  extravagant  to  praise  and  to  blame.     He  was  the  Chief 


47 

of  Pitt's  own  choice,*  and  with  the  minister's  awful  eye  upon 
him,  did  ho  say,  also : 

#    *    *     "  There  is  none  Imt  ho, 
Whoso  l)ein)^  I  do  tear  ;  iind  under  him, 
My  ^'oiiius  'iH  rehukcd,  ns  it  is  said 
Miirk  Anthony's  wns,  by  Cn;8ar."j 

In  his  thirty-fourth  year,  entrusted  with  an  army  for  the  first 
time,  what  was  there  for  Wolfe  to  muse  upon,  as  an  ofiicer  and 
as  u  man  ? 

A  little  while  before.  Admiral  Byngf  had  been  sentenced  to 
death,  not  for  cowardice,  but  because,  in  the  judgment  of  a 
court-martial,  he  had  failed  to  do  "  his  utmost  to  engage  the 
enemy ;"  and  his  execution  had  sent  terror  into  every  arm  of 
the  service.  Did  Wolfe  reflect  that,  as  the  news  had  reached  the 
St.  Lawrence  that  Niagara,  Ticonderoga,  and  Crown  Point,  had 
finally  all  fallen,  that  as  soon  as  the  welcome  tidings  should  bo 
known  in  England,  all  eyes  would  be  turned  to  him  ;  and,  that 
unless  Quebec  fell  also,  Pitt  would  leave  him  in  silence,  to  such 
doom  as  the  indignation  of  a  disappointed  country  might  de- 
mand ?  Or,  if  not  this,  did  his  sensitive  nature  shrink  from 
the  agony  of  so  much  as  appearing  before  a  military  tribunal  § 
to  prove  that  he  had  resorted  to  every  expedient  to  overcome 
Montcalm's  inflexible  resolution  to  act  ever  on  the  defensive  ; 
and,  that  he  had  exhausted  his  skill  to  provoke  him  to 
combat  ? 

I  am  led  to  suppose  that,  content  with  his  laurels  at  Louis- 
bourg,  he  intended,  on  his  return  home  in  1758,  to  marry,  and 
to  quit  the  army.     There  is  evidence  that  the  maiden  of  ||for- 

*  The  king  wislied  to  appoint  Gen.  Hopson,  who,  sent  to  tiic  West  Indies,  died 
there  a  year  or  two  after. 

t  Admiral  Byng  was  executed  in  Mnrrh,  1757.  In  three  minutes  after  walking 
out  of  the  cabin,  (pierced  with  five  bullets,)  lie  was  laid  in  his  coffin.  The  court 
that  tried  him,  acijuitted  of  cowardice,  but  found  that  "  he  did  not  do  his  utmost  to 
engage  the  enemy;"  and,  without  a  dissenting  voice,  recommended  him  to  mcrcv. 
I'itt,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  moved  that  mercy  be  extended,  and  personally 
solicited  the  king,  "  but  was  cut  very  short." 

4  One  writer  states  that  he  actually  "  declared  he  would  rather  die  than  bo 
brought  to  a  court-martial  for  miscarrymg." 

II  In  an  eulogium  pronounced  upon  Wolfe,  and  printed  in  London  in  1760,  Miss 
Lowther  is  called  an  "  illustrious  maid,"  and  the  "miiTor  of  her  sex."  It  is  said, 
also,  that  "  she  could  not  delight  in  the  man  on  whose  honor  her  discerning  eye 
perceived  the  least  stain;"  and,  that  with  "  her  approbation  he  flew  to  the  field  of 
glory."  So  again,  that  "he  fancied  himself  sufficiently  happy,  if  he  could  at  liis 
return  lay  at  hor  feet  his  haxvest  of  laurels." 


48 


tunc  who  pftPJiosspd  his  afTections,  synipathisod  wilh  liim  in  his 
tiiMisc  of  ptTsoiiiil  iioiior,  iiiul,  thill  \\o  ncci'ptcd  the  comiimiKl 
witli  her  apiiioluUioii.  I>i(l  he  tell  hor  at  pu^tin^^  that  in'  would 
will  lor  luM-  the  title  of  countess  ;  and  was  she  to  wed  him  hi 
disgrace  ;  in  disgrace,  hecause  unsuccessful  ? 

Whatever  the  truth,  heyond  what  we  know,  it  apjioars  that 
his  delicate  frame,  which  had  hcon  diseased  for  years,  yielded  to 
mental  weariness  and  sulU'ring,  and  that  li(5  hecamo  ill  of  a  fever 
which  seemed  to  threaten  his  life.  His  public  dispatches  show 
clearly  enough  how  little  he  himself  venturi-d  to  hope  from  the 
very  heginniiig,  as  well  as  indicate,  that  with  all  his  persistency 
and  constancy,  after  he  had  undertakcMi  a  thing,  ho  was  of  a 
distrustful  nature,  and  pondered  often  and  long  on  the  dark 
side. 

ITo  began  to  doubt  before  ho  had  mot  with  any  disappoint- 
ments, oven  before  ho  had  arrived  in  the  8t.  Lawrence.  Thus, 
ho  wrote  Pitt,  on  board  the  Neptune,  at  Halifax,  on  the  first  of 
May,  that  his  troops  were  good,  and,  that  if  valor  could  make 
amends  for  the  want  of  numbers,  ho  should  "  jiroliably  suc- 
ceed.;" but  yet,  that  any  accidents,  or  sickness  among  his  mei 
might  put  him  "  to  some  (Ufficnlliesy  On  tho  second  of  Sep- 
tember, he  gave  the  Minister  a  long  narrative  of  his  procceed- 
ings  from  tho  disembarkation  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  on 
tho  Isle  of  Orleans,  to  that  day.  The  obstacles  were  such,  that 
ho  could  not  flatter  himself  ho  "  should  bo  able  to  reduce  tho 
place,"  he  said ;  that  he  had  been  sick,  and  was  still  so  weak  as 
to  desire  his  generals  to  consult  for  tho  pul)lic  weal ;  that  ho 
had  acquiesced  in  the  proposal  to  convey  a  corps  of  four  or  five 
thousand  men  above  the  town,  in  order  to  compel  the  French  to 
an  action  ;  and  that  ho  was  then  preparing  to  execute  the  de- 
sign. But,  he  continued,  while  he  had  almost  tho  whole  force 
of  Canada  to  oppose,  tho  nature  of  the  river  deprived  him  of 
the  aid  of  the  most  formidable  ships  of  war ;  that  his  situation 
presented  "  such  a  choice  of  difficulties^^  *  as  to  cause  him  to 


*  The  newspapers  criticised  tins  term  at  the  moment ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
adopted  by  some  men  of  thought,  na  a  sort  of  proverb.  Among  those  who  used 
it  in  a  significant  sense,  were  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  and  Samuel  Adams.  "  Likd 
Wolfe,  we  had  a  choice  of  dirticultics."  Junius  employs  the  three  words  in  tho 
ordinary  way  of  discourse,  and  without  quotation  marks. 


49 


own  that  ho  wiis  "  at  a  loss  hnw  to  (Ictvu-iiuiK! ;"  that  thp  alTairs 
of  the  (•(uiiitiy  n'(|uii(Ml  at  liis  hiinds  '*  the  most  vijronms  incas- 
uros;"  hut  then,  he  adds,  "the  cournjro  of  a  handl'iil  of  troops 
f*hoiild  l»('  trxortcd  only  wIkm'c  thoro  is  sumo  ho|H;  (d"  a  l'avoral)lo 
event." 

This  lott(M'  lillfd  Kn^ijand  with  ahirni,  even  ''  w  ilh  dismay." 
Another,  anil  u  more  despairinj;'  aeeonnt,  soon  lollowed.  Ills 
last  dispatch  was  addressed  to  the  Karl  cd"  llolderness,  and  was 
written  on  hoard  the  Siif/i«'r/(iii(l,  at  Cape  lloune,  lour  <lays  pre- 
vious to  his  d(!ath.  No  one  ean  hmuI  it  without  emotion,  or, 
jiossihly,  witiiout  tlie  impression  tliat  Wolfe  desijziied  it,  in  his 
litter  diseourairenient,  as  a  manifesto  for  the  eye  of  historians. 
"If."  ho  i»l(^ad  for  his  reputation,  ''if  Afontealm  had  slmt 
himself  up  in  the  town  of  C^iU'liee,  it  would  have  lieen  lonu; 
sinc(;  in  our  possession,  heeause  the  defenses  are  im'onsiih'rahle, 
and  our  artillery  very  forniidalile  ;  hut  he  has  a  numerous  hody 
of  armcnl  men,  (1  cannot  call  it  an  army,)  and  the  strongest 
country,  perhaj)s,  in  the  world,  to  rest  the  defenso  of  the  town 
and  colony  upon."  In  the  enui?ieration  of  "dilliculties,"  he 
stated  that  the  enemy,  hy  means  of  floatin^r  hattiu'ies  and  innu- 
merahle  hattoes,  disputed  th(5  water  with  the  hoats  of  his  fleet; 
that  the  heavy  French  Itatteries  towards  the  sea  were  so  situated 
that  they  could  not  ))e  injured  ;  that  the  twenty  French  ships 
which  had  arrived  heforo  him,  with  succors  of  all  kinds,  had 
h(!en  lightened  and  taken  ahove  Quebec  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
own  vessels  of  war,  where  they  served  to  store  provisions,  and 
to  cut  off  all  communication  with  Amherst ;  aiui  that  the  sea- 
men who  came  out  in  them,  helped  to  work  Montcalm's  artil- 
lery, and  to  manage  his  floating  defenses  on  the  river.  As  related 
particularly  to  his  ow'n  armament,  ho  remarked  that  the  tide 
obbed  seven,  and  sometimes  eight  hours,  as  violently  as  could 
be  imagined,  and  was  the  cause  of  losing  "  an  infinite  deal  of 
time  in  every  operation  on  the  water ;"  that  owing  to  the 
strength  of  the  current,  merely,  the  ships  often  drifted ;  that 
the  bottom  was  a  bed  of  rock,  and  unless  an  anchor  caught  in 
a  ragged  one,  it  held  a  vessel  by  its  own  weight  only  ;  and  that 
doubtless,  if  the  equinoctial  gale,  (soon  to  be  expected,)  came 
with  "  any  force,  a  number  of  ships  must  necessarily  run  ashore 
7 


•11 


'i 


50 


•M 


and  be  lost."  In  commenting  on  the  effects  of  a  storm  which 
"  had  nigh  ruined  the  expedition,"  in  June,  and  immediately 
after  landing  his  army,  he  atiscrted,  that  for  so  "  extraordinary 
and  very  important "  duty,  his  supply  of  one  kind  of  boats  had 
never  been  half  large  enougb  ;  and  that  the  French  were  able 
to  contend  with  him  for  supremacy  on  the  water,  iienevcr  he 
was  not  covered  by  the  cannon  of  the  fleet.  And,  he  conchuled 
in  these  sad  words  :  "  I  am  so  far  recovered  as  to  do  business, 
but  my  constitution  is  utterly  ruined,  without  the  consolation 
of  having  done  any  considerable  service  to  the  State,  or  without 
any  prospect  of  it."  Thus  did  he  despond  on  the  ninth  of  Sep- 
tember, after  his  final  resolve  was  made,  when  his  troops  wpve 
crowded  on  board  of  transports,  and  when  he  impatiently  waited 
the  end  of  an  excessive  rain,  to  scale  a  precipice,  and  compel 
his  wary  foe  to  a  decisive  conflict  in  the  open  field.  In  thirty- 
five  days,  his  account  of  the  condition  of  things  in  the  St.  Law- 
rence was  read  in  London,  and  despair,  as  the  tidings  spread, 
was  universal.  "  Pitt  feared  that  he  had  been  mistaken  in  his 
favorite  General,  and  that  the  next  news  would  be  that  he  had 
been  destroyed  or  had  capitulated." 

"We  trace  his  doubting  nature  down  to  the  latest  hours  of  his 
existence.  The  "  order  of  troops  in  the  line  of  boats,"  for  land- 
ing on  the  night  of  Wednesday,  the  twelfth,  is  before  me,  as  I 
write.  The  camp  protected,  there  remained  only  thirty-six 
hundred  men  of  all  corps,  to  be  formed  in  columns  of  attack 
and  reserve  on  the  following  day.  These  were  to  be  conveyed 
on  shore  in  thirty  boats,  and  in  two  divisions ;  the  boats  to  re- 
turn to  the  ships  for  the  second,  under  Townshcnd,  after  land- 
ing the  first,  under  the  Chief.  Wolfe,  should  have  been  in  bed  ; 
and,  Hinde,  his  body  physician,  (who  remain-  d  in  America,  was 
a  Whig  in  the  Revolution,  and  accompanied  Patrick  Henry 
agahist  Lord  Dunmore,)*  should  not  have  left  him  for  a  single 

*  Hinde  sottlcd  in  Virftinia,  near  Patviok  lleniy,  but  lemovcd  to  Kcntinkv,  and 
died  in  Ncwiiort  in  t!ic  lattor  State,  in  1829,  a};ed"  92  ;  he  had  an  extensive  pnictii'e 
as  suiyeon  and  pliysieian.  "Educated  an  Episcopalian,  ho  heeanie  a  deist.  *  *  * 
Wiicn  liis  \yite  and  dnuirhtcr  artaclied  themselves  to  the  Methodists,  in  his  rn>;e  ho 
banislied  his  dani^;hter  from  his  house,  and  to  cure  liis  wife  of  her  insanity,  ho 
;n)plicd  a  blister  to  her  spine."  But  he  embraced  the  views  of  the  .same  sect,'  and 
"for  nearly  half  a  century  he  was  a  devout  adherent." 

We  may  remark  liere  that  several  others  who  served  a.s  surgeons  in  the  French 


51 


hour.  But,  in  a  remarkable  military  order  to  his  regiment, 
four  years  previously,  he  had  said :  "  White  a  man  is  able  to  do 
his  (luti/,  tthJ  can  stand,  and  hotd  his  arms,  it  is  infamous  to  re- 
tire;'''' and,  with  him,  precej)t  and  practise  were  ever  identical. 
Weak  as  h"  was,  he  coidd  "  stand  ;"  and  placing  himself  in  the 
boat  that  led  the  division,  he  was  among  the  first  to  leap  iipon 
the  spot  his  own  eye  had  discovered,  as  affording  a  reasonable 
chance  of  successful  invasion.  As,  however,  he  siu-veycd  the 
fearful  mount,  his  heart,  for  a  moment,  misgave  him ;  and,  ad- 
dressing the  officer  f  who  had  command  of  the  advanced  guard, 
he  said :  "  I  don't  believe  there  is  any  possibility  of  getting  up, 
but  you  must  do  your  endeavor."  He  had  contended  with  rains 
from  the  bogiiming  of  the  campaign,  and  he  selected  the  spot  on 
which  to  form  his  line  of  battle,  and  on  which  he  was  then  to 
close  his  life,  mid  falling  showers. 


war,  were  cither  employed  in  the  medical  departiii  it  in  the  Revolution,  or  became 
distinguished  in  private  practise.  Tlius,  Dr.  Amnii  R.  Cutter,  who  was  born  in 
North  Yarmouth,  Maine,  who  served  in  the  llevolulion  as  phvsician-general  of  the 
eastern  dci)artment,  and  who,  for  many  years  was  president  of  the  New  Hampshire 
Medical  Society,  was  surgeon  of  the  New  Hampshire  troops,  in  the  'expedition 
agamst  Louisbourgh,  in  1758.  "  He  deligiited  to  speaii  of  General  Wolfe,  *  *  * 
whom  he  personally  knew,  and  whose  easy  and  engaging  manners  and  cliivalrous 
character,  rendered  him  no  less  the  idol  of  the  anny,  than  his  subsccjuent  services 
justly  made  hun  the  favorite  of  his  country.  Dr.  Cutler  used  to  say  that  the  death 
of  Wolfe  was  a  fortunate  event  for  tiie  Americans." 

Dr.  Elihu  Tudor,  of  Connecticut,  entered  the  medical  staff  of  the  British  army, 
in  175.'),  and  was  with  General  Wolfe,  in  1759,  and  died  as  late  as  182G. 

Dr.  Samuel  Stringer,  of  Albany,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  New  York,  director-general  of  the  hospitals  in  the  northern  department;  was  un- 
der Al)ercrombic,  in  1758,  when  he  advanced  against  Ticondcroga,  and  was  present 
at  tlie  fall  of  Lord  Howe. 

Dr.  I'hilip  Turner,  of  New  York,  who  died  in  1815,  was  under  Amherst,  as 
assistant  surgeon,  in  1759,  and  in  the  Revolution,  surgeon-general  of  the  eastern 
department.  He  was  a  very  celebrated  operator.  "  His  handsome  person  and 
pleasing  address  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  English  surgeons,"  in  the  French 
war,  who  treated  him  with  much  courtesy,  and  invited  him  to  witness  many  of  their 
capital  operations. 

Besides  Hinde,  two  other  surgeons  of  note  in  the  British  army,  settled  in  Vir- 
ginia, namely :  Dr.  Andrew  Robertson,  who  came  over  with  Braddock,  and  Dr. 
James  Craik,  who  assisted  to  dress  the  unfortunate  General's  wounds.  Craik  had 
high  medical  employment  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  enjoyed  the  intimate 
friendship  of  Washington,  and  attended  him  in  his  last  sickness. 

Dr.  John  Jones,  a  native  of  New  York,  who  was  a  volunteer  surgeon  in  1755,  in 
in  the  expedition  to  Lake  George,  had  care  of  Baron  Dieskau,  the  French  general, 
for  a  considerable  time  after  he  was  wounded,  and  the  head  of  his  profession  as  a 
surgeon,  subscijuently  ;  was  the  friend  and  physician  of  Franklin,  and  his  medical 
adviser  in  his  final  illness,  and,  at  the  time  of  the  philosopher's  decease,  wrote  an 
account  of  the  closing  scene.  Dr.  Jones  was  also  tamilv  physician  of  Washington 
for  a  short  period,  when  the  seat  of  governmenc  was  at  Philadelphia. 

t  Capt.  Donald  McDonald,  of  Frasier's  Highlanders. 


i'l 


P\ 


52 


The  boats  were  to  drop  away  from  the   Sutherland  for  the 
shore,  on  the  distilayof  two  li<rhts  on  her  maln-topniast  shrouds; 
and,  the  civUian  who  hesitates  to  form  an  opinion  upon  Wolfe's 
martial  arranji^emonts,  on  an  occasion  of    so  vast  moment  to 
himself,  to  his  country,  and  to  the  world ;  may  still  venture  to 
admire  and   commend  the  wisdom  which  seendngly  provided 
against  every  contingency.     Yet,  the  stream  was  rapid,  the  land- 
ing-place small,  and  easily  missed  in  the  dark ;  the  pathway  ad- 
mitted but  two  men  abreast,*  and  was  guarded  at  the  top.    But 
the  invasion  made,  with  sixteen  hundri'd  troops  he  led  in  person  ; 
what  then?      A  spy,  or  a  deserter,  breathing  into  Montcalm's 
ear  that  his  antagonist  had  foiiued  a  [)lan  to  foil  him,  aiul  to  do 
battle  for  Quebec  under  its  walls,  would  have  brought  the  whole 
French  army  to  the  point  of  descent ;  and,  the  invaders  cut  off, 
almost  to  a  man,  when  again  would  England  have  attem})ted 
the  "xpulsion  of  her  Catholic  foe  from  America  ?    What,  as  we 
reason  upon  cause  and  effect,  Avhat  our  annals  for  the  remainder 
of  the  last  century?     And,  what,  too,  the  fame  of  the  man, 
with  the  many,  whona  fool-Iinrflincss,  (for  that  would  have  been 
the  word,)  produced  the  catastro])he  ? 

The  details  of  the  fight,  1  do  not  propose  to  relate. f  That  it 
was  one  of  the  shortest  on  record,  is  i)robablc.  The  interval 
between  the  advance  of  the  French  in  column,  and  their  flight, 
does  not  ap|)ear  in  any  work  to  Avhich  1  have  access  ;  and  it  may 
bo  well  to  sup[)ly  the  deficiency.  Knox  introduces  an  account 
that  found  its  way  to  him  after  the  surrender,  as  follows  :  "  Our 
troops  gave  the  first  fire,  the  British  the  second,  and  the  affair 
was  over ;  our  right  took  to  their  heels,  our  center  ran  after 
them,  which  drew  alon'g  the  left  wing ;  and  thus  the  battle  was 
lost  in  less  time  than  I  am  recounting  it."  In  agreement  with 
this,  as  relates  to  the  brevity  of  the  combat,  is  a  statement  in 
the  Belknap  Papers,  by  Robert  Weir,  the  owner  antl  master  of 
a  transport,  who  told  that  he  was  in  the  river,  two  miles  above, 
and  that  "  he  took  out  his  watch  when  the  firing  began,  and  held 


*  Admiral  Sauiuk-rs,  in  his  dispjitcli  of  Sc'i)t.  20,  to  Pitt,  remurlis  :  "  Wiieii  Gon. 
Woife,  and  the  troops  with  liini,  iuid  hmdod,  the  ditliiniltv  of  y:ainin}r  the  top  of  the 
hill  is  searco  credihle.  It  was  very  steep  in  its  ascent,  and  liiyh,  and  hud  no  path 
where  two  could  go  ahreast." 

t  Knox's  account  is  given  entire  in  the  Appendix. 


53 


it  in  his  hard  till  it  ceased,  wliicli  was  but  ten  minutes."  The 
truth  is,  that  Wolfe  was  almost  sure  of  triumph  as  soon  as  he 
was  joined  by  his  second  division,  and  had  formed  his  line  on 
his  own  ground,  and  in  his  own  way.  The  devious,  dangerous 
path-way  he  had  espied,  and  wliieli  his  army  as(;endi'd,  had  been 
examhied,  obstructed,  and  pronounced  ''  impassable,"  l)y  Mont- 
calm ;  and,  the  leader  deceived  and  amazed,  it  followed  that 
pauic-stricken  common  soldiers  would  not  stand  liefore  the  man 
who,  in  their  imagination,  had  performed  a  soi-t  of  miracle  in 
order  to  encounter  them,  or,  to  use  his  own  expressive  term,  "  to 
get  at  them."  Our  admiration  of  the  young  General,  should 
not  be  measured  by  the  residt,  but  l»y  the  fact  that  he  persisted 
in  the  attempt  to  accomplish  alonr.,  and  when  dying,  almost, 
of  disease  and  of  wounded  sensibilities,  what  was  assigned  to 
him  to  do  conjointly  with  auotiier  army,  and  with  one  of  the 
most  powerful  fleets  that  had  tlien  ever  ap])cared  in  the  Ameri- 
can seas.  His  merit,  in  a  word,  was  faitldulness  to  duty.  But, 
had  he  and  his  first  division  perished  in  the  cove  which  bears  his 
■  ame,  how  numy  would  care  to  honor  him  ?  The  great  world 
judges  men  by  success ;  the  calm  thinkers  know  that  success 
of^en  depends  on  mere  accident,*  and  defeat  upon  circumstances 
which  the  wisest  cannot  foresee. 


*  At'conlinfr  to  Smollett,  accident  (Icteniiiiied  siicce:;3  in  tliis  mtv  cn^c.  T' 
suhstiince  of  ii  Ioult  note  is  :  That  two  French  <U'>erters  w'  Wfi'c  carried  on  hoard 
one  of  the  ship-!  of  war  in  the  twili;;iit  of  the  l^tli,  stated  r  on  iliat  iii;4lit  Mont- 
calm exjiected  n  supply  of  provisions  in  l)oats  from  aho\r  i^'tohec  :  that  the  c  de- 
serters, when  they  saw  Wolfe's  hoats  (ioatin;^  down  the  river,  snp|Mi<in;r  them,  in 
the  dark,  to  i)e  those  of  the  French,  commenced  shontinj;' ;  that  tin-  cajii  lin  of  the 
ship,  ijrnorant  of  the  dcsifrn  on  foot,  and  lielievin;^'  the  deserters,  iiettiahy  ordered 
cannon  to  lie  ])ointed  at  the  Uritish  troops  ;  that  Wolfe,  oUserviny  the  comn  'liiai. 
Went  alonji'side  in  person,  "and  prevented  the  discharge,  which  wonld  have  alarmed 
the  town,  and  entirely  frustrated  the  attempt." 

Nor  is  this  all.  French  sentinels  were  |«osted  on  the  shore  to  challen<re  the  craft 
that  passed  them  on  the  river;  and  the  leadinir  hoat  that  contanied  Wolfe's  first  di- 
vision, was  ijuestioned  accord inj;ly.  Fortunately,  one  of  Frazier's  ca])tains  un<lerstood 
the  French  lani;ua}ie  and  customs  perfectly,  and  answered  in  a  maimer  not  oidy  to 
allay  suspicion,  hut  to  cause  the  ecntries,  one  after  another,  to  believe  that  the  hoats 
were  the  e.\])ected  ones,  with  sui)plies  for  the  French  garrison.  The  officer, 
whose  knowledfrc  and  ready  wit  served  so  effectually  to  deceive  the  (piestioners,  at 
so  critical  a  moment,  was,  1  snp|)Ose,  ("ajjt.  McDonald,  who  is  mentioneil  el.'^ewhero 
in  this  Address,  as  in  commanil  of  the  advanced  iiuard. 

And  Knox  relates,  that  "  the  morning  hcinu  dark,  and  the  tide  of  ehh  very  rapi<l, 
we  were  imperceptihy  carried  a  little  lower  down,  [than  was  intended,]  which  proved 
n  favorahle  circumstance,  for  there  was  a  strong  intrenchment  that  covered  the  ro.ul, 
[where  Wolfe  designed  to  land,]  lined  by  a  detachment  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men." 

Still  again  :  "  It  was  much  more  fortunate  that  tho  General  Lad  not  deferred  the 


I 
fi 


n^ 


54 


I  have  once  observed  that  Wolfe  entered  the  service  when  a 
lad  of  fourteen.  His  education  was  then  imperfect.  After  the 
war  in  Germany,  he  was  stationed  in  Glasgow.  Ashamed ,  that 
he  could  take  no  part  in  conversation  with  the  literary  men  he 
met,  he  earnestly  entreated  a  professor  of  the  universty  to  give 
him  directions  for  a  proper  course  of  study.  The  consequences 
were,  devotion  to  books,  and  a  proliciency  which  could  have 
been  made  only  by  a  man  of  talents.  That  he  was  capable  of 
composing  the  papers  which  bear  his  signature,  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. His  private  letters,  and  such  of  his  pul)lic  despatches, 
as,  from  their  nature  ho  nuist  have  written,  are  terse,  sentin- 
tious,  and  directly  to  the  point.  His  military  orders  are  models 
in  the  qiuilities  of  l)rovity  and  clearness,  which  are  among  the 
tests  of  a!)ility.*  I  have  attempted  to  penetrate  the  citadel  of 
his  mind,  so  to  speak,  and  as  T  part  with  him  forever,  I  linger 
long  in  the  cabin  of  the  Sutherland,  where,  on  the  twelfth,  he 
wrote  his  final  address  to  his  troops,  which  contains  an  outline 
of  the  movements  intended  on  the  morrow ;  and  the  very 
thought,  as  an  incentive  to  good  conduct,  of  Nelson's  memora- 
ble signal,  forty-six  years  afterwards.  What  more  comprehen- 
sive than  these  sixteen  words  :  "  A  vig-orons  blow  struck  by  the 
army  at  this  juncture,  may  determine  the  fate  of  Canada .'" 
What  more  inspiring  than  this  :  "  The  officers  and  men  ivill  re- 
member ivhat  their  country  expects .'" 

The  accouals  of  his  last  moments  differ.  That  when  dis- 
abled, the  troops  he  personally  led  were  very  near  the  opposing 
French  column,  and  were  advancing  with  charged  bayonets,  may 
be  considered  certain.  That  he  was  in  front  of  his  line,  and  a 
special  object  for  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  marksmen,  is  probable. 
The  essential  disagreements  relate  ti  the  number  of  his  wounds, 
and  to  his  dying  words.  Mouckton.  in  his  letter  to  Pitt,  barely 
says,  that,  "  exerting  himself  on  the  ridit  of  our  line,"  he  "  re- 
execution  of  his  project  to  another  clay,  for  two  Freneli  regiments,  witli  a  corps  of 
savafi-c^,  were  actimiiy  under  orders  to"  march  at  6  o'cloci;,  on  tlie  niorninii'  of  the 
13tli,  and  intreiich  themselves  immediately  alons  the  lieijrhts  ;  liut  happily,  our  troops 
v.-ere  in  possession  of  the  ground,  liefore  the  enemy  had  any  thought  of  stirring." 

*  lie  wrote  his  name  "  7((Hi :  UV/(',"  though  some  of  his  puhlished  letters  are 
without  the  m.  The  ./  is  well  fornied,  hut  the  W  resemhles  V  somewhat,  so  that 
his  surname  appears  as  if  Voolfp,  the  right  hand  limb  or  part  >  <'  the  V,  running  in- 
to the  left  side  of  the  first  o.  Between  his  names  he  inserts  a  colon.  His  hand- 
writing \i  what  we  will  "  round,"  and  is  easily  read. 


65 


ceivcd  a  wound  pretty  early,  of  which  he  died  soon  after." 
Others  speak  of  tico;  one  in  the  wrist,*  and  anotlicr  in  tlie 
body.  Ajxain,  the  wounded  parts,  were  tlie  hcafl  and  wrist ;  the 
groin  and  wrist.  Still  again,  it  is  stated  that  he  was  struck  by 
three  bullets,  and  that  the  fatal  wound  was  hi  the  breast.  That 
he  really  was  thrice  hit ;  that  he  silently  concealed  the  first  and 
second  injuries ;  and  that  he  unwillingly  allowed  himself  to  bo 
borne  to  the  rear,  after  the  mortal  harm,  can  hardly  be  doubted. 
That,  at  his  earnest  request,  he  was  removed  from  the  place  to 
which  he  was  carried,  to  a  spot  where  he  could  have  a  view  of 
the  field,  is  questionable. 

Of  what  followed,  there  are  several  versions  ;  and  my  purpose 
requires  me  to  notice  them  all.  First,  then,  it  is  related,  that 
when  his  own  eyes  failed,  he  asked  the  fortune  of  the  day  of  an 
officer  who  stood  near ;  that  he  was  told  that  the  French  lines 
seemed  to  be  broken  ;  that  soon  the  cry  was  heard :  "  They 
run  !  they  run  !"  that  with  trembling  eagerness,  he  inquired : 
"  Who  runV  and  on  being  answered  that  Montcalm  was 
utterly  routed,  he  said  in  a  faint,  but  composed  tone :  "  Thank 
God!  I  die  contented y 

Another  writer  states,  that  under  all  the  agonies  of  approach- 
ing dissolution,  when  informed  that  the  French  fled  on  all  sides, 
his  countenance  expressed  joy,  and  that  the  words :  "  Then  I 
am  satisfied .'"  were  uttered  in  exultation. 

A  third  records  that  when  the  shout :  "  They  run,"  met  his 
ear,  he  was  leaning  on  tlie  shoulder  of  a  lieutenant  who  kneeled 
to  support  him ;  and,  that  simply  asking :  "  Who  ? "  he  ex- 
claimed :  "  Then  I  die  happy .'"  Still  a  fourth  relates  that  the 
officer  was  seated,  and  that  the  exclamation  was :  "  What !  do 
the  cowards  run  already?  Then  I  die  happy T^  Yet  again, 
that  on  receiving  the  last  wound,  he  cried :  "  Support  me ;  let 
not  my  brave  felloivs  see  me  drop ;"  that  water  was  brought  to 
quench  his  thirst ;  that  when  assured  the  French  were  giving 

*  The  ball  shnttorcd  the  bone,  and  Wolfe  bound  round  his  wrist  a  handkerchief, 
which  tradition  adds,  was  the  gift  of  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged.  Tradition 
has  it,  too,  that  a  sash  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  gentleman  in  Maine, 
who  is  well  known  to  me,  is  the  very  one  worn  by  Wolfe,  when  killed.  The  first 
incident  here  mentioned,  may  be  true ;  the  story  of  the  sash,  however,  rests  on  no 
evidence  which,  as  far  a.s  I  am  informed,  entitles  it  to  belief. 


'i.'ii 


56 


way  everywhere,  his  expiring  sentiment  was:  "  What!  do 
they  run  alrcniln  ?     Now  Uud  be  praised,  I  die  happy'' 

And,  clilU'ring'  from  ail  (lieso,  is  tlio  account,  tliat,  informed 
of  tlie  total  ront  of  his  foo,  he  earnestly  demanded,  as  if  to  as- 
certain positively:  "  WhoJ/y?""  and  when  assured,  he  did  but 
say:  "/tfw  satisfied.''  Ho, too, we  are  informed  that  he  hhnself 
first  discerned  the  wavering  and  the  breaking  of  the  o])posing 
lines  ;  that,  addressing  the  officer  who  sustained  him,  as  he 
gazed  on  the  battle,  he  said:  "  Tell  me,  sir,  do  the  enemy  ^ive 
way  there?  tell  me,  for  I  cannot  see  ;"  that,  after  his  sight  be- 
came dinuner,  and  more  confused,  and  was  about  to  be  extin- 
guished forever,  and  while  he  reclined  his  head  on  the  officer's 
arm,  fainting,  barely  breathing,  he  was  roused  by  the  cry: 
"  They  run  !"  and  inquiring :  "  Who  ?"  the  answer  was  :  "  The 
French  ;  they  are  beat,  sir  ;  they  are  flying  before  you  ;"  and  his 
reply :  "  /  am  satisfied,  my  boys." 

Again,  it  is  narrated  that  he  lay  upon  the  ground,  and  lifted 
his  head  to  gaze  on  the  conflict  from  time  to  time,  until  his  eye- 
sight failed,  when,  for  some  moments  he  Avas  motionless,  with  no 
other  signs  of  life  than  heavy  breathing  or  a  stifled  groan,  that 
suddenly  an  officer  who  stood  by  exclaimed :  "  .See  how  they 
run  ;"  that  "Wolfe,  eagerly  raising  himself  on  his  elbow,  cried  : 
"  Who  V"  that,  answered  :  "  The  enemy  ;  they  give  way  in  all 
directions ;"  he  paused  a  little,  and  then  said :  "  /  shall  die 
happy ;"  and  that,  falling  back,  and  turning  upon  his  side,  as  if 
by  a  sharp  convulsion,  he  expired.  And  still  again,  is  the  ver- 
sion that,  supported  by  a  grenadier  and  a  particular  friend,  his 
servant  who  had  long  attended  him,  anno\inced  the  flight  of  the 
French ;  and  that,  when  thus  informed,  he  barely  opened  his 
eyes,  and  in  tremblhig  accent  uttered :  "  Then  I  die  contented." 

Knox,  who  was  in  the  battle,  agrees  with  neither.  The  points 
of  his  narrative  are,  that  Wolfe  was  "  carried  off  wounded,  to 
the  rear  of  the  front  line  ;"  that  he  requested  "  those  who  were 
about  him  to  lay  him  down;"  that  he  was  "  asked  if  he  would 
have  a  surgeon."  "  A  surg'eon?"  and  added :  "  it  is  needless; 
it  is  all  over  ivith  me."  That  then,  one  in  attendance  upon 
him  cried  :  "  They  run  ;  see  how  they  run  ;"  that,  hearing  this, 
Wolfe,  "  like  a  person  roused  from  sleep,"  questioned,  with 


67 


mrr 


great  oamcstiiGss  :  "  Who  run?''  that  ho  was  told  :  "The  ene- 
my, sir  ;  egad,  they  give  way  everywhore  ;"  that  thereupon,  he 
rcijoiucd :  "  Go,  one  of  you^  my  lads,  to  Colonel  Burton ;  tell 
him  to  march  Webb's  reg-iment  with  all  speed  down  to  Charles' 
River,  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  fugitives  from  the  bridge;'* 
that,  on  pronounehig  this  order,  he  turned  on  his  side,  and 
breathed  out :  "  Now  God  be  praised,  I  will  die  in  peavc." 

Knox,  it  is  to  he  remembered,  wrote  this  after  various  rela- 
tions of  the  closing  scene  had  appeared,  and  after  many  persons 
had  claimed  the  honor  of  ministering  to  the  departing  Chiefs 
last  necessities.  We  may  adopt  his  text,  therefore,  without 
hesitation,  since  no  one  would  have  invented,  at  such  a  mo- 
ment, the  command  to  pursue  the  fugitives  with  a  particular 
corps ;  and  since,  too,  (intending  to  correct  the  errors  of 
others,)  his  statement  was  made  on  the  authority  of  a  lieuten- 
ant of  the  grenadiers  who  averred  that  he,  a  volunteer  in  his 
company,  and  a  private  soldier,  bore  the  General  from  the  line  ; 
and,  that  joined  by  an  officer  of  artillery,  the  four,  were  the 
only  persons  that  attended  him  until  he  expired. 

So  many  things  are  controverted  by  curious  inquirers,  that 
one  is  often  reminded  of  the  remark  attributed  to  Napoleon : 
"  History  is  but  fable  agreed  upon ;"  and  I  have  thought  the 
time  devoted  to  the  examination  of  these  various  versions,  well 
employed.  Differ  as  they  do  in  some  particulars,  they  all  agree 
in  the  important  circumstance  that  the  victory  was  won  before 
Wolfe's  fall ;  that,  conscious  and  self-possessed  till  the  latest  in- 
stant, he  himself,  as  a  military  officer,  affirmed  the  result.  Can 
it  be  doubted  that,  in  his  judgment,  the  capitulation  of  the  city 
was  to  follow  ?  To  reduce  that,  and  so  to  end  the  war,  was  the 
sole  object  of  the  battle. 

The  field-marshal,  Marquis  de  Montcalm,*  was  a  man  of  em- 

*  We  owe  a  tribute  to  this  able  officer  and  accomplished  man.  The  death  of 
Montcalm  and  of  Wolfe,  how  alike  ;  each  in  the  performance  of  duty ;  but  the  emo- 
tions of  each  how  different !  The  former  departing  in  the  distress  of  personal, 
national  defeat ;  the  latter  in  the  consciousness  of  personal,  national  success.  A 
deserter  to  the  English  lines,  relates  Knox,  reported,  weeks  l)efore  the  battle,  that 
Montcalm  was  heard  to  tell  the  Governor-General :  "  You  have  sold  your  country, 
but,  while  I  live,  I  will  not  deliver  it  up."  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  his  known 
declaration  after  he  received  his  mortal  wound  was,  when  told  by  his  surgeon  that 
he  could  survive  only  a  few  hours  :  "  So  much  the  better ;  I  shuU  not  live  to  see  the 
surrender  of  Quebec."  Later,  to  officers  who  asked  for  counsel :  "  I'll  neither  give 
8 


i^fl 


>51I 


iueiit  j^cnius  in  war,  and  was  entirely  compctont  to  judge  of  tlio 
coiiscqiiciices  of  his  own  defeat,  and  of  his  antagonist's  sueeess ; 

oi(Imm  iioriiitcifiMi!  niiy  fnrtlior;  I  linve  mnrh  hnsiiu'ss  thntmust  be  nttondcd  to,  of 
f;roiiti'r  iiioiMi'iit  tliiiii  y()iiiiuim.il  MaiiiM>iiaii(l  tliis  wniclicd  couiiny;  iiiyliini!  is  very 
Hliort,  tlicirt'oiv  i)niy  k'nw  mo;  1  wish  vou  nil  tonit'ort,  mid  to  lie  liappiiv  extricated 
from  your  present  perplexities."  lie  tlien  ealled  for  his  eliaphiiii,  and  the  hishopof 
Canada,  who  remained  witii  him  until  lie  died.  'I'liis  is  one  version.  Another  is, 
that  he  said  to  the  ollieers ;  "To  your  keeping:,  I  eomniend  the  honor  of  rrunee. 
As  for  mo,  I  shall  pass  the  nifrlit  with  (Jod,  aiul  prepare  myself  for  death." 

Montealm  was  horn  at  Nisnies,  in  1712,  and  is  universally  spoken  of  as  a  man  of 
eminent  ndlitary  talents,  and  as  of  a  relined  and  eultivated  mind.  In  an  Knjilish 
work  ealled  "/W/Z/cd/ vlwcffo/r.s,"  &e.,  it  is  said  :  "Assurances  were  made  to  Mr. 
Greinille  that  America  had  entertained  thoiii^hts  of  independency  so  early  as  1757  ; 
and  to  eonlirm  these  assurances,  some  letters,  written,  as  was  asserted,  hy  the  Mar- 
quis de  Montealm,  (Jovernor  of  Canada,  in  the  years  1757,  1758,  and  1759,  statin;; 
these  opinions,  were  jiut  into  his  hands.  Mr.  (Jrenville  ^fiivo  full  credit  to  these 
papers.  After  his  death  they  were  puhlished.  All  the  Americans  reproliated  them 
as  for>.'eries  ;  they  insisted  tliat  Montealm  never  wrote  them  ;  that  they  were  faliii- 
eateil  to  deceive  and  provoke  the  I'hi^rlish  jrovernment  aytiinHt  America.  This 
oi)inion  prevailed  with  the  piihlic,  and  the  letters  were  in  ffeneral  discredited." 

Two  days  after  the  delivery  of  this  Addix'ss,  the  Jiostoii  ('oiiriir  ])uh[ished  an 
neeount  of  a  "  Kelifrious  Celeliratiou  at  Qiiehec,  on  the  death  of  Montealm,"  with 
some  remarks  of  the  editor,  which  mav  well  tiiid  a  place  in  our  commemoration  of 
the  death  of  his  distin;:uislied  loe.     Tlic  Cimriir: 

"Yesterday,  Septeinher  14tli,  was  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  death  of 
Count  Montcalm,  commander  of  the  French  forces,  wiio  wn.s  mortally  wounrled  on 
the  l.'tth,  and  die<l  the  next  day.  Out  of  respect  to  the  feelin;;s  of  tlio  French 
Canadians,  the  peo])le  of  Canada,  of  British  ori;;in,  did  not  celehratc  the  anniver- 
sary of  Wolfe's  victory.  Hut  yesterday  the  anniversurv  of  the  death  of  Montealm 
was  commemorated  at  Quebec  with  religious  ceremony  in  the  Ursuline  Convent,  the 
l)lace  of  his  interment,  and  by  the  inaiifruration  of  u  new  monument  which  lias  re- 
cently been  eivctcd  to  his  memory.  Ui)on  their  return  to  France  from  Canada,  the 
officers  who  had  served  under  Montcalm  took  some  steps  towards  luiviiifj  iv  monu- 
ment erected,  and  at  their  re(|uest,  an  elepmt  inscription  in  Latin  was  composed  by 
the  Aeadiiny  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles  Lettres  in  17G1.  The  following  is  un  im- 
proved translation  : 

"Here  lies  one,  whoso  memory  will  live  forever  in  both  hemispheres,  Louis 
Joseph  de  Montcalm  Cn)zon,Mar(iuis  de  St.  Veran,  Baron  de  Gabriac,  Commander 
of  the  Order  of  St.  Louis,  Lieutenant  (iencrnl  of  the  armies  of  France,  distin- 
j^uished  as  a  citizen  and  a  soldier,  ambitious  of  nothing  but  true  glory,  and  of  a 
happy  genius  trained  by  study;  ho  gained  all  his  stei)s  of  military  promotion 
through  successive  glories ;  skillful  in  all  the  arts  of  war,  in  taking  advantage  of 
opportunities,  and  in  facing  dangers ;  an  energetic  general  in  Italy,  in  Bohemia,  iii 
Genunny,  always  performing  the  labors  committed  to  him  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
prove  himself  eepntl  to  greater.  When  already  illustrious  by  his  daring  deeds,  he  was 
sent  to  defend  the  province  of  Canada ;  he  often,  with  small  bands  of  soldiers,  defeated 
the  forces  of  the  enemy,  and  took  their  forts,  well  supplied  with  men  and  arms  ;  cajjable 
of  enduring  cold,  want,  watching,  toil ;  careful  only  for  his  men,  regardless  for  him- 
self, a  strenuous  foe,  a  merciful  conqueror.  He  counterbalanced  adverse  fortune  by 
his  bravery,  the  want  of  men  by  skill  and  energy ;  and  during  a  space  of  four  years 
sustained  the  impending  fate  of  the  colony  by  his  prudence  and  his  vigor.  At 
length,  after  having  with  consummate  ability  long  kept  at  bay  a  numerous  army 
under  an  active  and  bold  general,  and  a  fleet  provided  with  all  the  munitions  of  wai-, 
being  forced  to  an  engagement,  wounded  in  the  foremost  rank  at  the  commencement 
of  the  conflict,  relying  on  the  etticacy  of  that  religion  which  he  had  always  rev- 
erenced, he  expired,  to  the  great  regret  of  his  countrymen,  and  not  without  the 
sympathy  of  the  enemy,  on  the  14th  of  September,  A.  D.  1759,  in  the  48th  year  of 
his  age.  The  mortal  remains  of  this  distinguished  commander,  his  sorrowing  crm- 
trymen  deposited  in  a  cavity  of  the  ground  formed  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell,  and 
enti-usted  the  same  with  confidence  to  the  generous  care  of  his  enemies." 


69 


and  his  docliiration,  wlion  iiiformod  that  lu;  oouM  survive  only 
a  few  hours:  "So  niucii  i\w  better;  I  shall  not  live  to  see  tho 
surrender  of  Quel)ee,"  eoni|)letes  tho  evidence  that  Wolf(!  is 
entitled  to  the  honors  paid  to  his  moinory,  and  dis|>oses  of  tho 
pretensions  of  (Jeorge  Townsheiid,  at  onee  and  forever. 

Tho  death  of  James  Wolfe,  as  wo  recall  the  exertion,  tho  toil, 
tho  solf-sacrifico,  and  the  mental  an^niish  which  preeedeil  it, 
how  grand,  how  sublime ;  not  of  a  soldier,  merely,  and  on  tho 
bod  where  soldiers  expect,  nay,  often,  ask  to  die;  but  of 
a  man  whoso  intellect  could  measure  the  full  conseciucnces  of 
failure  to  his  country  and  to  civilization,  and  who,  conscious  of 
his  accountability,  had  performed  his  duty,  his  whole  duty,  un- 
der the  most  appalling  combination  of  adverse  events.  Jlis  j)re- 
parations  to  lay  down  mortality  were  finished. 

"  Such  has  boon  tho  marked  and  unmerited  notice  taken  of 
mo  by  tho  loading  military  characters  of  tho  day,"  he  had  once 
written,  "  that  I  feel  myself  called  upon  to  justify  such  notice, 
which,  when  occasion  occurs,  will  probably  bo  by  such  exertions 
and  exposures  of  myself  as  will  lead  to  my  fall." 

In  camp,  while  ho  pondered  how  to  become  master  of  Quebec, 
he  expressed  his  willingness  to  lose  a  log  or  an  arm  ;  to  go  back 
to  tho  maiden  of  his  love,  maimed  and  mutilated  ;  but,  tho 
final  resolve  taken  for  a  decisive  engagement  with  his  favorite 
weapon,  the  bayonet,  the  conviction  that  ho  should  not  outlive 
the  conflict,  was  distinct  and  controlling.  On  tho  last  night  of 
his  life,  as  he  moved  in  a  barge  from  ship  to  ship,  to  inspect,  to 
direct,  and  to  cheer :  ho  spoke  of  Gray,  and  his  Elegy,  and  said 
he  "  would  prefer  being  the  author  of  that  poem,  to  the  glory 
of  beating  the  French  "  on  the  morrow  ;  and  he  recited : 

"  Tlio  boast  of  heraldry,  tho  pomp  of  power, 
And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth  e'er  gave. 
Await  alike  th'  inevitable  hour. 

Tho  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave."* 


i  'lit 


*  This  incident  is  related  by  several,  and  in  various  ways.  One  version  is,  that 
the  General  read  from  a  book  which  was  sent  to  him  by  the  Poet  himself,  and  that  the 
Elegy  was  just  tlion  published ;  hut  a  part  of  tho  story  is  certainly  inaccurate,  for  it 
•was  dark,  and  tho  poem  appeared  several  years  previously.  Mr.  Bancroft  udojjts  it 
as  stated  in  the  text,  on  tho  authority  of  ilr.  Fisher,  of  Quebec.  It  is  tracri,  how- 
ever, to  Professor  Robison,  of  Edinburgh,  wiio,  a  midshipman  in  early  life,  was  at 
the  seige,  and  in  the  boat  with  Wolfe.     Lord  Mahon  in  his  account  says  :  "  Not  a 


60 


And  later,  on  the  ^'anlO  solemn  nigbt,  after  his  orders  for  the 
assault  were  all  given,  and  he  was  at  liberty  to  commune  with 
his  own  spirit,  and  to  think  of  the  loved  ones  in  England :  in 
a  private  interview  with  an  oRicor  of  the  navy,  who  had  been 
his  school-fellow,  and  to  whom  he  was  much  attached,  ho  dis- 
closed the  presentiment  of  his  own  fate,  but  of  the  success  of 
British  arms ;  took  from  his  bosom  the  miniature  of  his  aflfi- 
anced  bride,  and  entreated  his  friend,  that  "  if  the  foreboding- 
came  to  pass,  he  would  himself  return  it  to  hor  on  his  arrival 

in  p]ngland."t 

When  musing  upon  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  I  am 
soothed  with  the  imagining  that  in  it,  the  great  benefactors  of 
the  race,  who  perish  prematurely  on  the  field,  or  who  waste 
slowly  away  in  neglect  and  sorrow,  find  a  portion  of  their  bliss 
in  witnessing  the  blessed  results  of  their  lal)ors  and  sufferings 
hero ;  soothed  with  the  thought  of  a  time  and  a  place,  to 
Bolve  the  dark  mystciy  of  the  inequalities  in  human  condi- 
tion ;    soothed  with  the  fancy  that  the  distinguished  being  to 

word  was  spoken,  not  a  sound  wiis  heard  bevond  the  ripplinf^  of  tlie  Htreain.  WoH'o 
alone,  thus  tradition  has  told  us,  repeated  in  a  low  voice  to  the  otHcers  in  his  bout, 
those  beautiful  stanzas  with  which  a  Country  Church-yard  inspired  the  muse  of 
Gray."  At  the  close  of  the  recital,  the  General  added  :  "  Now,  gentlemen,  I  would 
rather  be  the  author  of  that  poem  than  take  Ciuelwe." 

t  The  officer  refen-ed  to  in  the  text  was  John  Jervis,  who,  subsequently  the  Karl 
of  St.  Vincent,  was  a  naval  officer  of  the  most  distin<;uished  merit.  In  the  passa^;e 
from  England  to  America,  Wolfe  was  a  guest  on  board  the  ship  in  which  he  served, 
and  the  acquaintance  of  youth  was  renewed.  Jervis  performed  the  painful  duty  of 
delivering  the  picture. 

The  lady  to  whom  Wolfe  was  to  have  been  manicd,  had  he  survived,  was  Catha- 
rine Lowtlicr,  the  youngest  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  and  daughter  of  Kobcrt 
Lowther,  Governor  of  Barbndocs.  About  six  years  after  her  lover's  death,  she  mar- 
ried Lord  Hany  Poulett,  a  post  captain  in  the  navy,  and,  8ub.sequcntly  the  sixih 
and  last  Duke  of  Bolton,  and  Admiral  of  the  White.  lie  was  at  the  seige  of  Car- 
thage, where  Smollett  "  has  consigned  his  name  to  jmsterity  in  not  very  flattering 
terms.  He  is  the  Captain  Whiffle  of  Roderic  liuinlom."  The  exploits  of  the 
Duke  of  Bolton,  while  in  the  service,  did  not  entitle  him  to  rank  among  the  naval 
heroes  of  England.  He  died  in  1794,  when  the  dukedom  became  extim't.  The 
childrcn  of  the  iluke  and  duchess,  were  two  daughters  ;  Amelia,  of  whom  I  have  no 
information,  and  Catherine  Margarctt  Poulett,  who  married  the  Earl  of  Darlington, 
afterwards  Duke  of  Cleveland.  The  Duchess  of  Bolton  died  at  Grosvenor  S(inavc, 
London,  in  1809,  and  left  the  greater  part  of  her  fortune,  which  was  considcnii)li',  to 
the  Honorable  Frederic  Vane,  her  grandson,  and  the  second  son  of  the  first  Duke  of 
Cleveland.  Thus  she  survived  Wolfe  half  a  century.  Her  age,  by  one  account, 
was  75  ;  by  another,  a  year  younger.  "  Her  Grace  was  in  a  lingering' state  for  some 
time,  but,  from  her  great  flow  of  spirits,  did  not  take  to  her  bed  till  within  a  few 
days  of  her  dissolution."  The  present  Duke  of  Cleveland  is  a  grandson.  Several 
other  of  her  grand-children  arc  coimected  by  marriage  with  noble  families.  The 
authorities  for  this  note  are.  Life  of  Earl  St.'  Vincent,  Gleig,  Smollett,  the  Annual 
Register,  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  and  Burke's  Peerage. 


61 


whoso  memory  wo  pivc  the  ho\ir,  is  smiling  now  upon  tlio  im- 
mense possession  which  he  nnncxod  to  the;  Ihitish  crown,  for 
liigh  purposes  of  dominion  ;  and  yet,  in  conmion  inthistry,  for 
mere  lish,  and  furs,  and  trees  ;  hut  whieh,  in  the  wonderful  de- 
velopement  of  the  unthouf;ht-of  resources,  aU'cady  produces 
every  real  want  of  man,  and  is  rich  and  i)opulous  enough  for 


au  empire 


"  And  Hector's  nslics  in  iiis  country  rest." 


Ilis  body  was  embalmed.  Placed  on  board  the  line-of-battle 
ship  Royal  William,  on  the  18th  of  Se|)teml)er,  it  was  conveyed 
to  Portsmouth.  Transferred  to  (jreenwich,  it  was  privately 
placed  in  the  family  vault,  on  the  20th  of  Novemlter.  The 
day  following,  Pitt  moved  in  the  House  of  Commons  for  an  ad- 
dress to  the  king,  to  direct  a  monument  in  Westminster  Abbey.* 
"  In  a  low  and  plaintive  voice,"  wrote  a  listener,  "  he  pro- 
nounced a  kind  of  funeral  oration,"  but  not  happily ;  ''  the 
parallels  which  he  drew  from  Greek  and  Roman  story,  did  but 
flatten  the  pathetic  of  the  toi)ic."  Of  the  occasion,  AValpole 
himself  feelingly  said : 

"  The  horror  of  the  niglit,  the  precipice  scaled  by  Wolfe,  the  empire 
he,  with  a  handful  of  men,  added  to  r^ngland,  and  the  glorious  catastro- 
phe of  contentedly  terminating  life  where  his  fame  began  ;  ancient 
story  may  be  ransacked,  and  ostentatious  philosophy  thrown  into  the 
account,  before  an  episode  can  be  found  to  rank  with  Wolfe's." 

*  The  national  monument  is  in  Westminster  AMiev.  Drawin;rs  were  furnished 
by  Adam,  Chaml)erH,  Wilton,  and  others.  Tiiose  of  Wilton  were  adopted,  and  ho 
executed  the  work,  the  tirst  "public  one  of  his  emancipated  iiours."  In  liis  Life,  it 
is  said  :  "  The  monument  is  crowded  witli  ti;;ures  and  eml)lems,  and  like  the  inven- 
tions of  the  architects  in  everythint;  save  the  wild  disorder  which  reijjns  over  the 
whole,  Wolfe,  fallinj;  amidst  the  tumult  of  Imttle,  lays  his  hand  ;;ently  on  the  mor- 
tal wound,  a  fjrenadier  supports  him,  a  lliffhland  sergeant  looks  sorrowfully  on, 
two  lions  watch  at  his  feet,  and  over  his  head  hovers  an  angel  with  a  wreath  of 
glory.  *         *         *         *         Further,  of  one  of  the  accompaniments,  there 

is  a  representation,  "  in  bass-relief,  of  the  march  of  the  Britisli  troops  from  tiie  river 
bank,  to  the  summit  of  the  heights  of  Abraham.  It  is  full  of  truth,  and  gives  a 
living  image  of  one  of  the  most  dnrmg  exploits  that  any  warriors  ever  performed. 
Veterans,  wiio  had  fought  on  the  memorable  day,  have  been  observed  lingering  for 
hours,  following  with  the  end  of  their  staff's,  the  marcii  of  tiieu-  comrades  u])  the 
shaggy  precipice,  and  discussing  the  merits  of  the  ditt'erent  leaders." 

Gentlemen  of  Westcrham,  Wolfe's  native  ])lace,  have  erected  a  cenotaph  there.  A 
small  column  has  l)eeu  raised  on  the  plains  of  Abraham  to  mark  the  very  spot  where 
he  fell.  In  the  government  gardens  at  Quel)e(^,  there  is  an  ol)elisk,  sixty  feet  in 
height,  with  the  inscription  of  Wolfe,  on  one  side,  and  Montcalm  on  the  other. 
The  first  stone  was  laid  by  the  Earl  of  Dalhousie,  himself  a  gallant  soldier. 


62 


To  Hiirko  wo  owo  tlio  prcHorvntinii  of  tlio  toncliinf^  incident, 
tlmt  the  people!  of  tlu)  villag(5  in  wiiich  the  mother  of  Wolfo 
lived,  uniuiiniously  Ptfreed  to  ndinit  no  illumination  or  other 
exj)ressi<)n  of  Joy,  near  her  dwelling?,  on  the;  i\ay  wet  apart  by 
royal  proeliunution  throufyhout  the  kingdom,  lest  they  should 
seem,  by  an  ill-timed  triumph,  to  insult  her  grief.  James  was  her 
only  child,  anil  one  of  the  most  dutiful  and  utTectionatc  of  sons. 
His  father  died  soon  after  his  departure  for  the  St.  Lawrence  ; 
and  thus,  widowed  and  childless,  she  was  the  marked  object  of 
public  pity,  by  great  and  partituilar  allliction. 

Before  his  remains  -"aehiHl  Kngland,  and  on  the  fith  of  No- 
vomltor,  she  address(Ml  Pitt,  in  these  terms: 

"I  miikc  no  (iouht  hut  you  will  he  surprised  to  receive  n  letter  from 
the  most  distn'sscd  and  ulHictcd  of  mortals  ;  t)ut  as  you  did  my  dear  son 
tlic  Fionor  to  entrust  him  with  so  groat  and  important  an  aftliir  as  the 
taking  of  Quehee,  whicii  you,  sir,  planned  and  he  exccut<'d,  I  hope  to 
his  Majesty's,  your,  and  his  coimtry's  satistiiction,  though  God  knows  to 
my  irreparahle  loss  ;  yet  it  occurs  to  me,  that  there  may  be  some  papers 
or  orders  of  yoiu's,  relating  to  the  government  service,  whieh  will  <'om<5 
to  me.  If  you  will  honor  me  with  your  eommands,  I  shall  send  them  by 
a  faithful  and  trusty  gentleman  who  carries  this,  Lieutenant  Seott,  and 
no  eye  shall  see  them  before  your  own.  The  present  situation  of  my 
tortured  mind  will,  I  hope,  plead  my  excuse  for  all  mistakes." 

The  Minister  replied  at  Hayes,  on  the  8th  : 

"  The  attention  whieh  you  are  so  good  as  to  give,"  are  his  feeling 
words,  "  in  the  circumstances  in  which  you  write,  to  such  papers  as  may 
como  to  your  hands  relative  to  the  king's  service,  is  worthy  of  the 
mother  of  such  a  son.  Your  affliction  is  too  just  to  receive  any  degree 
of  consolation  from  one  who  feels.  Madam,  the  cause  of  your  sorrow  too 
sincerely  and  sensibly,  to  be  able  to  offer  any  topics  of  relief  to  you. 
May  heaven,  who  assists  the  virtuous,  grant  you  every  possible  com- 
fort, under  a  loss  which  nothing  can  repair  to  you  or  to  England." 

On  the  27th,  she  sent  the  papers.  In  the  note  that  accompa- 
nied them,  she  said  that  she  had  had  them  a  fortnight,  but  the 
sight  of  them  had  agitated  her  so  much  that  she  was  incapable 
of  writing ;  and  she  asked  protection  to  the  bearer,  (the  officer 
she  had  mentioned,)  who,  "  in  losing  her  son,  had  los|;  his  only 
friend  and  interest." 


m 


Throo  diiyHuftorunnls,  slio  coniuiunicntcd  with  Pitt  nprain,  nn 
the  Hul>J(!ct  of  a  ponsiou.  From  this  It^ttcr,  it  npiKMirs  tliut  licr 
liUHl)iin<l  had  sclthid  the  whoh?  of  Ihm  fortuiu!  on  her,  ihiriiig 
her  life;;  and  that  her  sou,  i^jiioniut  of  the;  fact,  and  pn'suniiiif? 
that  a  share  was  to  conio  dinjctly  to  him,  had,  in  his  own  will, 
hoquoatljod  more  tlian  a  third  part  of  it  to  his  fric^nds.  Ilor  <lo- 
siro  to  wmiply  with  h<!r  son's  wish(!s,  (without  ndbronco  to  her 
Inishand's  intentions  for  herself,)  were  ex|)ressed  with  earnest- 
ness ;  anil,  meanin^r  to  lie  understood  that  if  the  royal  aid  was 
refused,  she  "could  not  do  it  without  distressing  herself  to  the 
highest  degree ;"  hence,  and  for  means  to  live  as  became  the 
widow  of  one  General  Wolfe,  and  as  the  mother  of  another,  her 
solicitations. 

She  did  not  long  survive.  At  her  decease,  in  1704,  the  fam- 
ilies of  officers  who  served  with  her  son  at  Quebec,  were  found 
to  bo  higatecs  in  her  will. 

The  tribute  of  Cowi)er  may  well  conclude  our  discourse  : 

*    *    *     "  They  have  fallen, 

Each  in  hiH  field  of  glory  ;  one  in  arms, 

And  one  in  council ;  Wolfo  upon  the  lup 

Of  smiling  Victory  that  moment  won, 

And  Chatham,  heart-sick  of  his  country's  shame  I 

They  made  us  many  soldiers.     Chatham,  still 

Consulting  England's  happiness  at  home, 

Secured  it  hy  an  unforgiving  frown. 

If  any  wronged  her.     Wolfe,  where'er  he  fought. 

Put  so  much  of  heart  into  his  act. 

That  his  example  had  a  magnet's  force, 

And  all  wore  swift  to  follow,  whom  all  loved. 

These  suns  are  set.    Oh,  rise  some  other  such, 

Or  all  that  wo  have  left  is  empty  talk 

Of  old  achievements,  and  despair  of  now." 


Brethren  :  With  a  single  suggestion  more,  I  relieve  your  pa- 
tience. In  the  legislative  halls  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  days  of 
her  colonial  vassalage,  and  one  hundred  years  ago,  your  fathers 
voted  men  and  supplies  for  the  extinction  of  French  power 
on  this  continent ;  in  the  Capitol  of  her  sovereignty,  we  com- 


G4 


memorate  the  result.  Her  history,  during;  the  interval,  who 
shall  toll  it,  as  it  deserves  to  be,  as,  one  day,  it  must  be  told, 
for  man's  l)ost  good  ? 

Wo  commemorate,  too,  a  j)rinclpal  Actor  in  the  conlliet ;  and 
wo  have  rapidly  noticed  the  use  ho  made  of  the  means  ])laccd 
at  his  disposal,  in  war,  and,  incidentally,  the  use  lie  made  of 
life  itself.  And  uow,  at  })artinp,  may  I  not  ask  whether  we  arc 
to  go  away  with  no  lesson  for  ourselves ;  with  nothing  for  our 
own  daily  life  ?  Is  there  not  something  in  the  career  of  James 
Wolfe,  that  we  can  recollect  with  j)rofit  V  lie  sacrificed  self  to 
duty.  lie  was  simj)ly  one  of  us,  and  in  this,  we  can,  if  we  will, 
imitate  him.  And  have  ve  no  "  difficulties  "  to  encounter,  no 
"  choice  of  difficulties  "  to  make  ?  Do  tlie  sky-colored  imps 
ever  possess  us  ?  and  at  times,  are  we  without  one  cheerful 
thought,  one  ray  of  hope  ?  In  youth,  did  poverty,  or  chance, 
or  parental  preference,  doom  us  to  irksome  employments  ? 
Have  we  sorrows  which  are  pent  up  in  aching,  almost  in  break- 
ing, hearts  ?  We  can  master  all.  If  we  will  but  have  it  so, 
there's 

"  Joy  to  be  fottnd  in  every  state, 
Something  still  to  do  or  beai'." 

Ours,  the  lowly  part  to  subdue  self  and  destiny  ;  and  is  the 
foe  of  our  peace,  or  of  our  virtue,  wary  and  skillful,  and  has  he 
eluded  us  until  we  are  in  despair  ?  At  the  precise  moment 
when  we  feel  to  resist  no  longer,  lot  the  cross  and  the  crown  of 
James  Wolfe  occur  to  us,  and  save  us  from  the  long  roll  of  the 
wretched  and  the  wrecked.  The  narrow,  "  impassable  "  path- 
way which  led  him  to  victory  on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  is 
typical  of  that  which  leads  <o  rest,  to  rest  in  Abrahain's  bosom  ! 


APPENDIX. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  WOLFPL'S  LETTERS  TO  HIS  PARENTS. 


FROM  GLASGOW,  IN  1749,  TO  niS  MOTIIEU,  IN  KKPLY  TO  IIEU  SUGGES- 
TION RELATIVE  TO  ATTENDING  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP. 

"I  have  observed  your  ins) nietions  so  religiously,  that,  rather  than 
want  tlie  Word,  I  got  th<^  rei)utation  of  a  very  good  Presbyterian,  by 
frequenting  tlie  kirk  of  Scotland,  till  our  ehaplain  appeared."    *     *     * 

IN  THE  SAME  LETTER. 

"  To-morrow,  Lord  George  Sackville  goes  away,  and  I  take  upon  me 
the  dilRcult  and  troublesome  ollice  of  a  commander.  You  cannot  con- 
ceive how  hard  a  thing  it  is  to  keep  the  passions  witliin  bounds,  when 
authority  and  immaturity  go  together,  to  endeavor  at  a  character  tliat 
has  every  oj)i)osition  f;om  within,  and  that  the  very  condition  of  the 
blood  is  a  sullicient  obstachi  to.  Fancy  you  see  me,  that  must  do  jus- 
tice to  both  good  and  bad,  reward  and  punish  with  an  equal  unbiased 
hand  ;  one  that  is  to  reconcile  the  severity  of  discipline  to  the  dictates 
of  humanity,  a)'d  that  must  study  the  temper  and  disposition  of  many 
men,  in  order  to  make  their  situation  easy  and  agreeable  to  tlicm,  and 
should  endeavor  to  oblige  all,  without  partiality ;  and  a  man  set  up  for 
everybody  to  observe  and  judge  of;  and,  last  of  all,  sujipose  me  em- 
ployed in  discouraging  vice,  and  recommending  the  reverse,  at  the  tur- 
l>ulent  age  of  twenty-three,  when  it  is  possible  I  may  have  as  great  a 
propensity  that  way  as  any  of  the  men  I  converse  with." 

FROM  IVEUNESS,  NOVEMBER  G,  1751,  TO  HIS  MOTHER. 

'"This  day  I  am  five  and  twenty  years  of  age.     *     *     *     There  arc 
times  when  men  fret  at  trifles,  and  quarrel  with  tJKiir  tooth-picks.     In 
9 


fiO 


one  of  these  evil  habits  I  exclaim  against  the  present  condition,  and 
think  it  the  worst  of  all ;  but  coolly  and  t(Mn|)<'raft'ly,  it  is  plainly  the 
best.  Where  thcn^  is  most  employment  and  least  vice,  then'  one  should 
wish  to  be."  »  *  *  In  the  same,  he  declares  that  he  has  "a  turn  of 
mind  that  favors  matrimony  prodigiously ;  I  love  children,  and  think 
them  necessary  to  })eople  in  their  latter  days."  *  *  #  Lord  IJury 
(the  colonel  of  the  regiment,)  j)rofesses  fairly  and  means  nothing ;  in 
this  he  resembles  his  father,  lie  desires  never  to  see  the  regiment,  and 
wishes  that  no  officer  would  ever  leave  it.     This  is  selfish  and  unjust." 

FROM  EXETEll,  FEB.  18,  1755,  TO  IIIS  FATHER. 

"  By  my  mother's  letter,  I  find  that  your  bounty  and  liberality  keep 
pace,  as  they  usually  do,  with  my  necessities.  I  shall  not  abuse  your 
kindness,  nor  receive  it  unthankfully  ;  and  what  use  I  make  of  it  shall 
be  for  your  honor  and  the  king's  service  ;  an  employment  worthy  the 
hand  that  gives  it." 


FROM  souTiiAJirroN,  28th  sept.  1755,  to  hi9  mother. 

"  My  nature  requires  some  extrsiordinary  events  to  produce  itself.  I 
want  that  attention  and  those  assiduous  cares  that  commonly  go  along 
with  good  nature  and  humanity.  In  the  common  occurrences  of  life,  1 
own  1  am  not  seen  to  advantage." 

FROM  canterbury,  8th  NOV.,  1755,  TO  HIS  mother. 

"  I  write  by  the  Duke's  (of  Cumberland)  order,  to  inquire  after  an 
ofiicer's  widow  in  Ireland,  who,  he  was  told,  had  a  son  fit  to  serve  ;  and 
his  royal  highness,  who  is  forever  doing  noble  and  generous  actions, 
wanted  to  provide  for  that  child.  The  father  was  killed  at  Fonteroy. 
*  '■'  *  If  I  don't  keep  a  good  watch  over  myself  I  must  be  a  little 
vain,  for  the  Duke  has  of  late  given  mc  such  particular  marks  of  his 
esteem  and  confidence  that  I  am  ashamed  not  to  deserve  it  better." 


MILITARY  ORDERS  DURING  THE  SEIGE  OF  QUEBEC. 


Gen.  Wolfe  landed  his  army  on  the  Isle  of  Orleans,  on  the 
27th  of  June ;  the  extracts  that  follow  will  serve  to  show  his 


67 


MMH 


stylo,  tho  police  of  his  camp,  and  the  nature  of  his  operations. 
The  most  important  orders  relate  to  the  final  battle ;  and  these, 
with  the  "  Signals  "  fc '  tho  embarkation  of  the  troops  in  boats, 
on  tho  night  of  Sept.  12th,  are  given  in  full. 

Junk  29,  ITfjO.  No  centrles  are  ever  to  he  placed  within  point- 
blank  musket  siiot  of  any  wood,  .  'ess  behind  stones  or  trees,  so  as  not 
to  be  seen.  <•*  «'■'  »  «■>  '•■>  <:> 

Next  to  valour,  the  best  qualities  in  a.  military  man,  are  vigilance  and 
caution.  «>  o  *•*  <;>  "•>  o 

And  a  soldier  who  is  found  with  plunder  in  his  tent,  or  returning  to 
the  army  wth  plunder  of  any  kind,  not  taken  by  order,  shall  be  sent 
directly  to  the  Provost  in  irons,  in  order  to  be  tried  for  his  life. 

June  30,  1759.  The  King  of  Great  Britain  Avages  no  war  with  the 
industrious  peasant,  the  sacred  oi'ders  of  religion,  or  the  defenceless 
women  and  children  ;  to  these,  in  their  distressi'ul  circumstances,  his 
royal  clemency  oifers  protection.  The  people  may  remain  unmolested 
on  their  lands,  inhabit  their  houses,  and  enjoy  their  religion  in  security  ; 
for  these  inestimable  blessings,  I  expect  the  Canadians  will  take  no  part 
in  the  great  contest  between  the  two  crowns. 

July  5.  The  object  of  the  campaign  is  to  complete  the  conquest  of 
Canada,  and  to  finish  the  war  in  America.  The  army  nnder  the  Com- 
mander-in-'-hief  will  enter  the  colony  on  the  side  of  jNIontreal,  while 
tlie  fleet  and  army  here  attack  the  Governor-General  and  his  forces. 

O  O  ■■>  ii  O  •:"'  O 

The  General  means  to  carry  the  business  through,  with  as  little  loss 
as  possible,  and  with  the  highest  regard  to  the  preservation  of  the 
troops  ;  to  that  end,  he  expects,  that  the  men  work  cheerfully,  and  with- 
ont  the  least  unsoldierlike  manner  or  complaint ;  and  that  these  few,  but 
necessary  orders,  be  strictly  obeyed.  The  General  proposes  to  fortify 
his  camp  in  snch  a  manner,  as  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  enemy 
to  attempt  anything  by  surprise,  and  that  the  troops  may  rest  in  security 
after  their  fatigues.  '■■'  *  "  '■'  '■' 

The  light  infantry  of  the  army  are  to  have  their  bayonets,  as  the 
want  of  ammunition  may  r-ometimes  be  supplied  with  that  weapon,  and, 
because  no  man  should  leave  his  post,  under  pretense  that  all  his  cart- 
ridges are  fired  ;  in  most  attacks  by  night,  it  must  be  remembered,  that 
bayonets  are  preferable  to  jire.  ■■■' 

No  churches,  houses,  or  buildings  of  any  kind,  are  to  burned  or  des- 


68 


troycd  without  orders  ;  the  persons  that  remain  in  their  habitations^  their 
women  and  children,  are  to  be  treated  with  humanity  ;    if  any  violence  is 
offered  to  a  woman,  the  offender  shall  be  punished  with  death, 
o  o  o  o  o  o  o 

When  the  soldiers  are  fiitigucd  with  work,  or  wet  upon  duty,  the 
General  will  order  such  ret'reshnient  as  he  knows  will  be  of  serviee  to 
them,  but  is  determined  to  allow  no  drunkenness,  nor  licentiousness,  in 
the  army.  If  any  sutler  has  the  presumption  to  briufj;  rum  on  shore,  in 
contempt  of  the  General's  repulalions,  such  sutler  thull  be  sent  to  the 
Provost's  in  irons,  and  his  goods  confiscated. 

July  6.  No  women  are  to  be  allowed  to  suttle  in  camp  without 
proper  authority,  on  pain  of  beinpf  struck  off  the  provision  roll ;  all 
orders  relating  to  the  women  are  to  be  read  to  them  by  the  sergeants  of 
their  respective  companies,  that  they  may  not  plead  ignorance. 

July  8.  As  the  ships  that  were  to  cover  the  landing  cannot  fall 
down  to  their  proper  stations  this  day,  the  troops  are  not  to  embark,  but 
arc  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness. 

•TuLY  19.  Soldiers  are  not  to  be  permitted  to  uwim  hi  the  heat  of 
the  day,  but  only  in  the  mornings  and  evenings. 

Skpt.  2.  Tlie  tents  of  all  the  corps  are  to  be  struck  this  evening 
when  dark,  and  carri(;d  down  at  eight  o'clock  to  the  boats  on  the  beach, 
under  Anstruther's  regiment ;  there  will  be  a  boat  assigned  to  each 
corps  to  carry  them  off;  these  boats  must  be  unloaded  at  Point  Levi, 
before  high  water,  that  they  may  return  with  the  ebb.  A  proper  olliccr 
will  attend. 

Sept.  2.  The  troops  are  to  march  to-morrow  morning,  and  embark 
for  Point  Levi ;  the  signal  for  their  moving  will  be  the  bui'ning  of  a 
barn  before  brigadier  Townshend's  house ;  those  detachment's  which 
occupy  houses,  are,  when  they  evacuate  them,  to  leave  a  small  party, 
who  are  to  set  them  on  fire,  and  then  join  the  main  body. 


AFTER  ORDERS  IN  THE  EVENING. 

Sept.  2.  Bragg's  regiment  to  march  first,  and  will  be  directed  by 
brigadier  Townshend ;  Lascelles'  next ;  then  Anstruther's ;  and  lastly, 
Otway's.  These  regiments  are  to  take  the  road  behind  Anstruther's 
camp ;  the  two  howitzers  are  to  be  carried  down  by  Lascelles' ;  Col. 
Howe's  light  infantry  will  form  the  rear  guard  of  the  whole,  ac<'ording 
to  the  particular  instructions  given  herein.     When  the  troops  are  drawn 


^ 


?!W= 


i.-:inRuMtr.rwrcirtt 


60 


1 1 


up  on  the  beach,  they  are  to  leave  an  interval  between  AnstruthfM-'s 
and  Lascellcs'  for  the  light  intiintry. 

SECOND  AFTER  ORDERS. 

Sici'T.  2.  The  regiments  are  to  repair  to  their  alarm-posts  this  night 
at  twelve  o'clock  ;  they  are  to  conceal  themselves  entirely  after  day- 
light, so  as  to  try  to  induce  the  enemy  to  attack  them  ;  tlu^y  will  observe 
this  direction  to  the  very  moment  in  which  the  signal  will  be  made.  As 
Otway's  regiment  have  the  large  redoubt,  aod  the  grenadiers'  redoubt  in 
their  alarm  posts,  they  an;  to  send  a  pi(iuet  to  the  former,  and  t lie  grena- 
diers to  the  latter,  immediately  <'»fter  dark.  Lascelles'  regiment  is  to  send 
as  soon  as  it  is  dark,  a  subalt(!rn  and  twenty  men  to  take  the  lower  bat- 
tery. This  ofheer  is  to  conceal  his  people  after  day-light,  and  to  join 
his  regiment  when  he  perceives  they  are  on  the  march  to  the  beach ; 
no  fires  to  be  made  by  the  men  in  tlieir  alarm-posts. 

Sept.  4.  The  light  infantry,  twenty-eighth,  thirty-fifth,  forty-seventh, 
fifty-eight,  and  the  grenadiers  of  Louisbourg,  witii  those  of  ^lonckton's 
regiment,  are  to  march  to-morrow  at  two  in  the  afternoon  ;  they  are  to 
receive  their  orders  from  brigadier  Murray ;  the  parts  of  these  corps 
which  are  to  remain,  are  to  encamp  on  the  ground  now  occujjied  by  the 
Louisbourg  grenadiers.  The  wiiole  are  to  b(!  drawn  up  two  deep,  the 
Louisbourg  grenadiers  on  the  right,  liragg's  on  the  kift,  and  so  on  by 
the  seniority  to  the  center;  the  brigatlier  proposes  marching  from  the 
center ;  Colonel  Howe's  own  division  of  light  infantry  will  form  the 
van-guard,  and  cover  the  head  of  the  column ;  that  of  major  Dalling 
the  rear-guard.  Two  files  will  be  detached  from  each  platoon  in  order 
to  cover  their  own  flanks  ;  when  the  woods  are  out  of  musket-shot,  they 
are  to  keep  near  to  the  battalion  ;  when  they  are  within  musket  shot, 
they  are  to  march  within  the  skirts  of  the  woods. 

Sept.  7.  Wlien  the  coast  has  been  examined,  and  the  best  landing- 
place  pitched  ui)on,  the  troops  will  be  ordered  to  disembark,  perhaps 
this  nijrht's  tide.  The  five  following  battallions  are  to  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  go  into  the  flat-bottomed  boats,  fifty  in  each  boat,  besides 
officers,  viz :  Amherst's,  Otway's,  Kennedy's,  Anstruther's,  and  Colonel 
Mun-ay's  corps  of  grenadiers. 

Sept.  8.  Seeing  that  the  weather  sets  in  bad,  a  signal  will  be  made 
at  one  o'clock  to  lie  fast,  in  case  it  does  not  clear  up. 

Sept.  9.  As  the  weather  is  so  bad  that  no  military  operations  can 
take  place,  and  as  the  men  are  so  excessively  crowded  in  the  transports, 


70 


and  ill  the  mon  of  war,  so  as  to  endanger  their  heahli,  it  is  ordered  that 
llic  uii  .cr-inentioiied  troops  be  hiiided  at  the  mill  upon  the  south  shore, 
and  t'  .it  tliey  may  be  cantoned  in  the  vilhige  and  ciiureh  of  St.  Niclio- 
his,  in  rcacUness  to  embarii  at  the  first  signal.  The  signal  to  march  and 
embark  by  day,  will  be  two  guns  fired  fust,  and  two  slow,  from  the  Suth- 
erland ;  th(!  signal  by  night,  will  be  three  lights  at  the  main-top-gallant 
mast-head  of  the  same  ship,  and  two  guns. 

From  the  S»iuirrel,  Louisbourg  Grenadiers,  ofRcera  in  proportion,     200 

p'rom  the  Adventure  transport,  Otway's,  260 

From  the  George  transport,  Anstruther's,  200 

From  ditto,  Highlanders,  100 

From  the  Ann  and  Elizabeth,  Bragg's,  160 

From  ditto,  Highlanders,  ICKJf 

From  the  Sutherland,  American  Grenadiers,  J|^ 

Fi-om  the  Leostatf,  Amherst's,  |[0i 

From  tiie  "Ward,  Lascelles',  iflO 

From  ditto,  highlanders,  100 


1520 


Brigadier  ISIonckton  takes  command  of  this  corps,  and  Brigadier 
Murray  for  this  duty  ;  the  men  to  carry  their  blankets  and  kettles,  with 
two  days'  provisions ;  they  are  to  leave  their  baggage  on  board  their 
ships.     The  troops  afloat  report  to  report  to  Brigadier  Townshend. 

Sept.  11.  The  troops  on  shore,  except  the  light  infantry  and  Amer- 
icans, are  to  be  upon  the  beach  to-morrow  morning,  at  five  o'clock,  in 
readiness  to  embark  ;  the  light  infantry  and  Amerii.niS  will  reimbark 
at,  or  about  eight  o'clock ;  the  detachment  of  artillery  to  be  put  on 
board  the  armed  sloop  this  day.  The  army  to  hold  themselves  in  read- 
iness to  land  and  attack  the  enemy.  As  the  Loestafi'  and  Squirrel 
frigates  are  ordered  to  follow  the  flat-bottomed  boats,  the  troops  belong- 
ing to  those  ships  are  to  remain  in  them  and  the  boats  intended  for  these 
corps  are  to  take  in  the  others. 


ORDER  OF  TROOPS  IN  THE  LINE  OF  BOATS. 


NiimhfT  of  boutfl 


8. 
6. 
4. 
5. 
fi. 
1. 


1st.  Light  Infantry  leads. 
2d.  Bragg's  Regiment. 
3d.  Kennedy's  Regiment. 
4th.  Lascelles'  ditto. 
5th.  Anstruther's  ditto.' 
6th.  Detachment  of 


^ 


1^ 


Highlanders  and  American  Grenadiers. 


fe 


71 

The  troops  must  go  into  the  boats  about  nine,  to-morrow  night,  or 
when  it  is  \yrvtty  near  high  water;  but  th((  naval  (ttlin-rs,  coinniajuling 
the  (litlerent  divisions  of  boats,  will  apprize  thenioftiu!  fittest  time  ;  and 
as  there  will  be  a  necessity  tor  remaining  sonu^  part  of  the  night  in  the 
boats,  the  otficers  will  provide  aceoidingly  ;  and  the  soldiers  will  have  a 
jill  of  rum  extraordinary  to  mix  with  their  water  ;  arms  and  ammunition, 
two  days'  provisions,  with  rum  and  water,  are  all  that  the  soldiers  are 
to  alu-  lull)  their  boats  ;  their  ships,  with  their  blankets,  tents,  &c.,  will 
>-oou  be  brought  up. 

SIGNALS. 

First.  For  the  flat-bottomed  boats,  with  the  troops  on  board,  to  ren- 
dezvous abreast  of  the  Sutherland,  between  her  and  the  south  shore, 
keeping  near  her ;  one  light  in  the  Sutherhuul's  main-top  shrouds. 

Secondly.  When  they  are  to  drop  away  from  the  Sutherland,  she  will 
show  two  lights  in  the  mfxin-top  mast  shrouds,  one  over  the  other. 

The  men  to  be  quite  silent,  and  when  they  are  about  to  land,  must 
not,  upon  any  account,  fire  out  of  the  boats ;  the  otficers  of  the  navy  are 
not  to  be  interrupted  in  their  part  of  the  duty  ;  they  will  receive  their 
orders  from  the  officer  appointed  to  superintend  the  whole,  to  whom 
they  are  answerable.  Officers  of  artillery  and  detachments  of  grena- 
diers are  put  on  board  the  armed  sloops  to  regulate  their  fire,  that,  in 
the  hurry,  our  troops  may  not  be  hurt  by  our  own  artillery.  Captain 
"  "k  and  the  officers,  will  be  particularly  careful  to  distinguish  the 
bit  i  ',  and  to  point  their  fire  against  them  ;  the  frigates  are  not  to  fire 
■'»>lii  -oad  day-light,  so  no  mistake  can  be  made;  the  officers  command- 
l-'  iiwiting  batteries,  will  receive  particular  orders  from  the  General. 
The  troops  to  be  supplied  to-morrow  with  provisions  to  the  14th.  The 
troops  ordered  for  the  first  embarkation  to  be  under  arms  at  the  head- 
quarters to-morrow  morning  at  four  o'clock. 

ON  BOAKD  THE  SUTHERLAND. 

Sept.  12.  The  enemy's  force  is  now  divided,  great  scarcity  of  pro- 
visions now  in  their  camp,  and  universal  discontent  among  the  Canadi- 
ans ;  the  second  officer  in  command  is  gone  to  Montreal  or  St.  Johns, 
which  gives  reason  to  think  that  General  Amherst  is  advancing  into  the 
colony  ;  a  vigorous  blow  struck  by  the  army  at  this  juncture  may  deter, 
mine  the  fate  of  Canada.  Our  troops  below  are  in  readiness  to  join  us, 
all  the  light  artillery  and  tools  are  embarkiid  at  the  Point  of  Levi,  and 
the  troops  will  land  where  the  French  seem  least  to  expect  it.     The 


1> 


72 


first  body  tlmt  gots  on  shore,  is  to  mnrch  directly  to  thoi  enemy,  nnd 
drive  them  from  any  little  post  they  may  oeeupy  ;  the  ofheers  must  he 
careful  that  the  siieeeeding  bodies  do  not,  by  any  mistake,  fire  upon 
those  who  go  on  before  them.  The  battalions  must  form  on  the  upper 
ground,  with  expedition,  and  be  ready  to  eharge  whatever  presents  it- 
seM'  When  the  artillery  and  troops  are  landed,  a  corps  will  be  left  to 
secure  the  landing-place,  while  the  rest  march  on,  and  endeavor  to 
bring  the  French  and  Canadians  to  a  battle.  The  oflicers  and  men 
will  remember  what  their  country  expects  from  them,  and  what  a  de- 
termined body  of  8oldi(!rs,  inured  to  war,  is  capable  of  doing,  against 
five  weak  French  battalions,  mingled  with  a  disorderly  peasantry.  The 
soldiers  must  be  attentive,  and  obedient  to  their  otUcers,  and  resolute 
in  the  execution  of  their  duty." 


I     I 


\ 


EXTRACTS  FROM  KNOX'S  JOURNAL  OF  THE  SIEGE  OF 

QUEBEC. 

As  stated  in  the  Address,  Knox  was  an  officer  under  the  com- 
mand of  Wolfe,  and  a  chronicler  of  several  of  the  campaigns  of 
the  French  war.  His  Journal,  in  two  volumes  Quarto,  was  pub- 
lished in  London,  in  HGO,  and  is  cited  by  our  most  carelul  writers. 
The  passages  here  quoted  will  give  the  reader  svme  idea  of  the 
course  of  afl'airs  from  the  landing'  of  the  army,  until  the  arrange- 
ments were  completed  for  the  final  and  brilliant  exploit,  on  the 
memorable  thirteenth  of  sei'tkmukr. 

June  2t,  17o9.  General  Wolfe  took  an  escort  of  light  troops, 
accompanied  by  Major  M'Keller,  our  chief  Engineer,  to  the  west 
end  of  Orleans,  in  order  to  reconnoitre  the  situation  of  the  enemy, 
the  garrison,  the  bason,  and  the  circumjacent  country ;  he  dis- 
covered the  French  army  encamped  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
their  right  extending  close  to  Quebec,  and  their  left,  towards  the 
cataract  of  Montmorency  ;  the  ground  which  the  French  General 
has  made  choice  of  is  high  and  strong  by  nature,  with  the  village 
of  Beauport  in  the  centre  of  their  camp,  and  that  of  the  Charle- 
bourg  in  the  rear  of  their  right :  to  this  post  they  are  all  employ- 
ed in  adding  every  kind  of  work  that  art  can  invent,  to  render  it 
impenetrable. 

In  the  afternoon  wo  had  a  dreadful  storm   of   wind   and   rain, 


ff!?5F 


78 


wliich  lasted  for  Hutiw!  hotirH  ;  tlio  troops  were  vory  forttuiato  in 
lindiiij?  jjficat  (luaiititicH  of  wlicatcii  and  itoaso  Htniw  that  liad 
bt'fii  lately  threshed,  with  soiiie  excellent  hay  to  lie  npon.     *     * 

*  *  (iroat  daMia<;-(!  has  l»een  Hiistained  in  tlu;  tleet  this  after- 
noon by  tho  btonn  ;  it  fell  mostly  on  the  bouts  and  hmuUI  crafts  ; 
Homo  transports  were  driven  on  shore,  and  others  ran  foul  of  each 
other  :  many  of  the  llat-bottomed  boats  sidl'ered  much  by  this 
hurricane,  and  several  of  them  are  rendered  uidit  for  furlh(;r  ser- 
vice ;  tho  weather  is  now  more  moderate  towards  night. 

Junk  3(K  After  the  skirmish  was  over  this  morniiif^  be- 
tween our  light  troops  and  the  enemy,  the  former,  in  the  pursuit, 
apprehending  that  the  peasants  and  colony  troops  might  possibly 
return  with  a  reinforcement,  possess(;d  themselves  of  a  large  farm- 
house, where  they  I'outid  a  ([uantily  of  provisions  and  rnovalilcs, 
with  a  fire  in  the  kitchen  chimney  :  from  hence  they  intend  to 
waylay  tho  enemy,  in  case  they  should  return;  but  hearing  tho 
voices  of  peoi>le  talking,  they  searched  the  house,  witlu)ut  how- 
ever making  any  discovery  ;  whereupon  they  resolved  to  set  firo 
to  it,  and  return  to  tho  church.  After  the  flames  began  to  spread 
with  rapidity,  they  were  alarmed  with  bitter  shrieks  and  cries  of 
women  and  children,  who  had  foolishly  concealed  themselves 
anu^ng  some  lumber  in  a  cellar.  Our  people  very  humanely  exert- 
ed themselves  for  tho  relief  of  theoo  miserable  wretclies,  but  their 
bc-t  endeavors  were  inotTectual ;  the  house  was  burnt  to  tho 
ground,  and  these  unhappy  people  perished  in  the  flames.  Suck 
alas  !  are  the  direful  effects  of  war. 

July  1.  At  three  o'clock  this  afternoon  we  were  alarmed  by 
smart  firing  of  musketry  in  tho  woods,  and  the  troops  stood  to 
their  arms  ;  this  was  occasioned  by  a  party  of  Indians  coming 
down  to  annoy  our  camp,  for  whom  Captain  Goreham  and  his 
rangers  laid  in  ambush,  and  scalped  nine  of  them.  Two  twenty- 
four  pounders  and  two  twelves  are  mounted  on  our  barbet  battery. 
Major  Scott,  with  a  large  corps  of  rangers,  have  arrived  this  even- 
ing from  Orleans,  by  whom  we  learn  that  thirty  of  tho  enemy  have 
been  killed  and  taken  on  that  island,  and  that  two  grenadiers  of  the 
Louisbourg  division  wore  found  scalped  on  the  skirts  of  the  woods. 
It  is  expected  the  enemy  will  attempt  to  surprise  us  this  night ; 
nevertheless  we  are  landing  heavy  artillery  and  stores  with  great 
diligence. 

Jl'ly  2.  The  48th  Regiment,  with  the  grenadiers  and  light 
10 


74 


\ 


\ 


troops  of  this  brigade,  under  the  coniinand  of  Colonel  Burton 
nmrched  up  the  country,  as  an  escort  to  (ieneral  VVoH'e,  who  went 
to  reconnoitre  the  ti)wn  Iroin  tlic  lieights  to  tlie  southward  of  it; 
the  light  inhmtry,  who  preced(Hl  their  march  were  (ind  upon  by 
some  straggling  peasants,  at  a  distance.  The  ({cneral  made 
choice  of  a  piece  of  ground,  about  one  mile  and  a  half  from  our 

camp,  whereon  to  erect  batteries  against  Qu(;bec. 

♦         ♦**♦***♦♦ 

Some  ships  have  arrived  from  Boston  with  large  boats  and  pro- 
visions for  the  army.  1  can  perceive  in  (he  enemy's  camp  at  least 
five  colored  coats  tor  one  French  uniform,  whence,  it  is  manifest, 
their  army  consists  chiefly  of  the  militia  of  the  country  and  other 
peasants.  We  have  now  got  three  redoubts  in  our  cncan>pment ; 
the  brigadier's  tent  is  in  the  centre  of  the  largest,  where  there  are 
four  brass  si.x  pounders  mounted.  Our  camp  forms  an  half  moon 
round  the  point,  and  has  now  assumed  a  respectable  appearance  ; 
we  are  ordered  to  entrench  the  eastern  flank  of  it,  which  is  in  the 
rear  of  the  4od  regiment.  **♦♦♦* 

The  oflicers  were  all  served  this  day  ith  fresh  provisions  for 
the  first  time.  The  weather  is  gloomy  .  .d  cold,  and  inclined  to 
rain. 

July  3.  Working  parties  went  out  this  morning  to  make 
fascines  ;  they  were  obliged  to  quit  about  eight  o'clock  by  a  vio- 
lent storm  of  rain  which  continued  without  intermission  until 
night. 

July  4.  At  noon  we  had  a  dreadful  thunder  storm,  succeeded 
by  violent  rain  and  hail,  vyhich  lasted  near  six  hours  ;  the  light- 
ning exceeded  anything  1  ever  saw.  *         *         *         * 

The  enemy  appear  to  be  indefatiguable  at  their  entrenchments, 
particularly  at  the  left  of  their  camp,  above  the  Point  de  llest  ;* 
whence  I  conjecture  that  part  to  be  the  most  accessible,  and  am 
confirmed  in  this  opinion  by  an  observation,  viz.,  when  the  tide  is 
about  half  ebb  there  are  banks  and  shoals  that  run  out  at  a  great 
length  into  the  bason  along  the  front  of  their  camp,  from  the 
center  upwards,  which  are  then  visible  ;  but  there  do  not  appear 
any  obstructions  immediately  ofi'  the  Point. 

July  5.  The  forty-eighth  regiment,  and  all  the  grenadiers, 
rangers,  and  light  infantry,  with  working  parties  from  the  other 
corps,  marched  up  to  the  place   where   our   batteiies   are   to   bo 


♦Boats  usually  took  in  ballast  from  thence,  therefore  called  Point  de  Ilest. 


n 

croctod,  and  brnko  grotind  ;  IIk'  f(»rty-<'iRlitIi  arc  intHMiciMiiii  thom- 
mdv(!Hoii  a  cniivciiiciit  spuf,  at  half  the  dislaiici!,  in  (n-lcr  to  prc- 
Borvo  tli((  C(iiniiiuni(!atii)ii  liotwccii  mir  cainj)  and  the  batteries. 
Tlio  rangorH  took  poHt  on  all  the  adjuinin^^  IuIIh,  which  ct)inniar»dcd 
the  road  to  the  battories,  and  the  circnnijacent  country,  for  a  great 
extent,  dividing-  thoniHolvoH  into  ninall  partioH  with  breaHt-works 
about  them  of  Htono,  timber,  kc,  the  workmen  and  gnniadierb  re- 
turned to  caiiip  in  the  ov<'ning. 

Juf.v  6.  The  fortii-eighth  regiinent  liave  Hocured  thornHcIvoa  at 
their  new  post,  within  an  excellent  redoubt ;  and  working  parties 
arc  diliuontly  employed  in  erecting  batteries  against  tlie  town  ;  the 
eminence,  made  choice  of  for  this  purpoHc,  pmjectH  into  the 
river,  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  hundred  yards  distance,  which,  with 
Cap(?  Diamond,  form  the  straits*  of  Quebec.  Mortars,  guns, 
shells,  shot,  and  all  manner  of  artillery  stores,  are  landing  at 
every  tide.  <■>  "  *■>  •>  «  *> 

A  brisk  cannonading,  at  six  o'clock  this  evening  between  our 
frigates  and  the  enemy's  floating  batteries  ;  this  continued  for  an 
hour  and  a-lialf,  but  no  damage  was  done  on  either  side. 

Jirr.Y  7.  Wo  have  now  got  a  park  of  artillery  and  stores  ad- 
joining to  our  camp,  and  the  detachments  of  that  corps  are  all  en- 
camped here  ;  the  heaviest  guns  on  shore  are  thirty-two  pounders, 
and  the  largest  mortars  are  thirteen  inches. 

JcLY  8.  At  twelve  o'clock,  a  smart  cannonading  between  our 
frigates  and  the  enemy's  floating  batteries,  under  the  left  of  their 
encampment  ;  our  bomb-ketches  fired  several  shf'lls,  at  the  same 
time,  into  our  camp,  some  of  which,  by  bursting  in  the  air  over  their 
heads,  threw  them  into  confusion,  and  make  them  run  diflercut 
ways  for  shelter.  «  «  «  "  *■'  « 

At  two  o'clock,  the  garrison  (as  if  by  way  of  reprisal) 
vigorously  bombarded  Burton's  Redoubt,  and  connonaded  our 
workmen  at  the  batteries  very  briskly,  but  without  any  success  ; 
General  Wolfe  was  there  at  the  same  time,  and  showed  great  at- 
tention to  the  preservation  of  the  men,  by  ordering  them  to  lie 
down,  or  get  under  cover,  as  soon  as  a  flash  was  first  perceived*  ; 
the  enemy  c  'utinued  their  fire  until  late  in  the  evening. 


*  Wc  lire  informed  by  French  writer.s,  that  in  tlie  ulrt  Indian  or  Algonquin 
liingu;ige  JCetieia  or  Qui'/Hs  implies  ii  strait,  whence  the  capital  derives  its  name. 

*  It  is  Ciisy  to  diHtinfruish  lietwieii  the  flush  of  n  mortar,  and  that  of  n  guri;  ihe 
former  heinjr  much  larjier  than  the  other:  on  occasion  of  either,  the  usual  signals 
are  shell  or  shot,  and  are  generally  gi\en  by  the  engii.eer  on  that  service,  or  by  a 
sentinel  appointed  to  watch  the  enemy's  batteries. 


Tfl 


If   r 


The  WdikH  am  ik»w  comitli'tcMl  mi  \ho  wr-xt  of  OiIciitih  ;  nfdro 
lioiim'H  an'  creeled,  and  litis|>italM  for  tlie  ukc  td  the  fleet  iiikI 
army  ;  that  post  \&  rendorud  very  dt-feiiwihlo. 

)  ,j  ..,  0  C  0 

Two  tlnrteon-ineh  iiiortarH  niid  H(»me  cnniioiiH  werr  <lrawn  up 
lliiM  day  to  HurtotrH  Heddiiht ;  it  Mew  frenli  towards  iiijilit,  with 
a  droppiiij,^  rain  ;  the  iriariiieH  havo  hitherto  hiiii  on  hdard  tiieir 
Hhips  ;  the  lirst  detaehineiit  of  their  corpw  himh-d  tiiiH  eveniti}^  on 
I'oint  Levi. 

.Iii.Y  1>.  In  onler  to  facilitate*  the  himliiip  of  Wui  foroos, 
under  (Jetieral  U'olle  on  the  north  si(h'  of  the  river,  to  the  east- 
ward of  tlie  water-fall,  onr  hrinadc  htnick  their  canijt  hctwecii  one 
and  two  o'clock  this  inornin^',  with  the  preatcHt  <iuietne8H,  march- 
ed a  lifth*  way  up  the  country,  and  concealed  ourncdveH  in  the 
woodb  ;  a  lew  detachmentH  oidy  remained  in  the  liouseH  and  re- 
douhlH,  and  the  workinj^-parties  Ixdng  out  of  view  of  the  enemy, 
were  not  called  in. 

Hetween  six  and  seven  of  our  frigates  and  l)ond)ketchcH  began 
to  play  upon  the  enemy's  camp,  which  oMiged  IIhtu  to  strike 
their  tents,  and  retire  more  to  the  rear  ;  that  gro\ind  is  not  only 
out  <d"  reach  of  our   ship's    guns,  but,  by  its    elevated    Hituatiun, 

bids  defiance  to  any  aiuioyance  from  the  river. 

i:;  o  o  ■■'  o  o  o  o 

Captain  Starks,  of  the  rangers,  sent  his  Lieutenant,  and  twenty 
men,  on  a  scout  to  the  southward,  yesterday  ;  they  returned  to 
day,  and  bnuight  in  two  prisoners  ;  one  of  them  was  a  lad  of 
fifteen  years  of  age,  the  other  a  man  of  forty,  who  was  very 
BuUon,  and  would  not  answer  any  questions  ;  this  ollicer  also  took 
two  mal(;  children,  and  as  he  and  his  jiarty  were;  returning,  they 
saw  themselves  closely  pursued  by  a  much  superior  Ixjdy,  some 
of  whom  were  Indians;  he  widied  to  be  freed  from  the  children, 
as,  by  their  innocent  cries  and  screeches,  they  directed  tiie  pur- 
suers where  to  follow.  The  Lieutenant  made  many  signs  to  them 
to  go  away  and  leave  him,  but  they,  not  understanding  him,  still 
redoubled  their  lamentations  ;  and  finding  himself  hard  pressed, 
ho  gave  orders  that  the  infants  should  be  taken  aside  and  killed  ; 
which  was  done,  though  the  officer  declared  to  me  that  it  was 
with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  can  be  conceived. 

o  o  o  ■:.)  o  o  o  o 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the   troopB   under  General 


77 


Wolfe  Iiiiidcil  oil  tlio  north  Hide  of  tln'  river  to  tlio  I'liHtwiihl  of  tlin 
cut.iriiiM,  iiihI  ciK'tiiiiiMMl  w'itlioiit  oppoHition,  Tli<>y  liudHix  hruHM 
Hix-|)oiiii(lcrH  with  tliciii  iitiil  hoiik;  howitzers.  The  riiii^feiM  wero 
Boon  after  detaclied  into  the  wimmIm  to  eo\er  Home  fuHciim-niiikerH, 
and  hein^r  fjn.d  upon  \>y  u  body  of  Iml  iiiih,  u  Hiiiiut  HkinnisJi  eii- 
Hiiod  ;  hilt  the  ruiif-crM  vvero  reinforced  by  the  |»i(|iietH  iind  two 
liehl  pieeeH,  which  riiked  tlio  niseiilH.  and  (hove  them  buck  to  their 
own  camp; — there  were  many  killed  and  wounded  on  both  Hides, 
which  lell  montly  on  ('aptain  Danks  and  his  company   of  ruiigers. 

Jrr.Y  10.  Our  batt(!ries  are  in  jfn^at  forwardnesH  ;  th(j  two 
first  ur(>  to  mount  six  ^iiiih  and  five  mortars,  and  will,  in  a  few 
dayn,  be  in  readiness  to  open. 

o  o  o  0  0  0  o  • : 

liefoH!  we  reached  our  camp,  wo  had  a  viohMit  thunder-Hlorm 
attended  with  hail  and  rain,  which  laid  our  incampment  under 
water  : — the  hail  stoncH  w(!ro  uncommonly  larj^e. 

JiJi.Y  11.  Tho  enemy,  apprehending  that  wo  would  en- 
deavor to  make  u[)  last  night  in  work,  what  we  were  prevented 
doing  yesterday  by  the  storm,  expended  a  great  (piantity  of  shot 
and  shells  at  our  batteries,  but  with  no  better  success  than  in  the 
morning.  »  «  «  «  «  <■  » 

Our  carpenters  arc  employed  hero  in  making  several  floating 
stages,  in  onh^r,  as  it  is  pietended,  to  ferry  over  this  brigade  to 
attack  the  enemy  at  IJeauport,  whilst  (Jeneral  Wolfe,  with  tho 
other  two  brigades,  are  to  cross  the  river  of  Montmorency,  and 
fall  upon  the  rear  ;  in  this  case  it  is  added,  that  the  marines  are 
to  defend  our  redoubts  and  batteries  here,  and  detachments  will 
remain  in  the  north  camp,  to  maintain  that  post.  Such  schemes 
and  reports,  however,  seem  only  calculated  to  amuse  the  enemy, 
and  confirm  him  in  a  belief,  that  nothing  will  be  attempted  this 
campaign  by  our  army,  except  in  that  quarter  ;  M.  Montcalm  has 
a  distinct  view  of  tluise  stages  from  his  camp,  and  the  uses  they 
are  said  to  be  intended  for,  may  possibly  bo  conveyed  to  him  by- 
prisoners  or  deserters.     Our  works  in  this  camp  are  almost  com- 


♦  Wl 
cann)s 


k'lienthe  enemy  saw  our  anny  thus  subilivide  I  and  occiii)yinit  t'lrt-'e  ilistinct 
s,  the  chief  gentlemen  of  the  country  nuule  application  to  Monsieur  \  aii- 
dreuil,  to  detach  a  strons  body  t)f  ("iinadians,  under  experienced  otlicers,  over  tiie 
river,  and  rout  our  trooj)s  fiom  I'oint  Levi  ;  but  the  Governor-General,  from  the 
contemptible  opinion  he  had  of  their  prowess,  refused,  telling  them  it  was  liis  and 
their  duty  to  act  on  the  defensive.  , 

-Monsieur  Montcalm  (say  the  officers  ()f  the  regulars)  was  strongly  prepossessed 
with  the  same  sentiments  of  his  Ciinadiau  forces. 


\ 


ploted,  our  redoubts  are  very  strou}?,  liavinp:  a  flitch,  with  a  stout 
pickot-wnrk  ill  the  centre,  and  an  Al)l)aus  do  Hoia  all  round  them. 
On  the  inside  of  the  chun-h,  or  (jroneral  Hospital,  is  also  an  ex- 
cellent palisade-work,  with  loop-holes  for  musketry  ;  and  the  west 
end  of  it  is  covered  by  a  hull-moon,  where  an  officer's  guard 
mounts  every  day. 

July  12.     Two  pieces  of  cannon,  with  ammunition  of  all  kinds, 

and  a  quantity  of  shells  were  sent  up  to  the  batteries. 

o  o  o  o  o  o  o  o 

General  Wolfe  has  put  his  can^p  in  an  excellent  posture  of  de- 
fence ;  some  batteries  are  erected  ag^ainst  the  enemy's  left  tlank, 
and  others  are  marketl  out,  being  proposed  to  be  tlirown  up,  if 
occasion  shouhl  require;  bouts  are  constantly  emph)yod  in  carry- 
ing artiller}',  ammunition,  and  provisions  to  that  side. 

s;;  o  ■:■.;  o  O  O  O  O 

At  nine  o'clock  this  night  a  rocket  was  thrown  up  as  a  signal 
for  our  batteries  and  bomb-ketches  to  play  upon  the  town;  our 
first  and  second  sjiclls  f<?ll  rather  short,  wliicli  ailbrded  great  sport 
to  the  enemy,  who  put  forth  many  triunqjliant  shouts  on  the  oc- 
casion ;  however,  we  immediately  got  to  the  proper  distance  and 
changed  their  mirth.  A  tierce  bombardment  and  cannonading  was 
continued  the  whole  niglit  on  both  sides,  of  which,  1  had  a  full 
view  from  the  Rock-guard,  where  1  was  upon  duty.  At  midnight 
came  on  a  heavy  rain,  that  lasted  until  it  was  clear  day-li!;iit. 

July  13.  Our  batteries  and  the  town  are  still  warndy  engaged  ; 
our  bomb-ships  ceased  firing  late  in  the  night,  but  renewed  it  this 
iTiorning,  and  pc^rformed  exceedingly  well.  At  eleven  o'clock,  all 
was  quiet  on  both  sides.  Between  twelve  and  one  there  was  a 
smart  cannonading  from  tne  left  of  General  Wolfe's  camp,  across 
the  fall  at  a  battery  the  enemy  wore  erecting  to  enfilada  their 
ground.  "  *■• 

July  13.  The  summers  in  this  cou.itry  are  very  hot,  and 
subject  to  violent  rains ;  we  have  !iad  a  great  fall  thi«  day. 

July  14.  General  WoKc  has  been  thee  two  nights  past  at  our 
batteries,  with  the  grenadiers,  light  infantry  of  this  brigade,  and 
some  compaiues  of  marines,  being  in  expectation  of  a  \  isit  from 
the  enemy,  who  by  accounts  brought  by  deserters  have  crossed 
the  river  for  that  purpose,  with  near  two  thousand  men,  and  were 
this  dav  seen  to  rolurn  ;  flu    General  was  greatly  disappointed  at 


n 


tlieir  not  putting  their  menaces  in  execution,  being  well   prepared 
to  receive  tluMn,  '■■'  *>  -  - 

A  fleet  of  transports  are  arrived  from  New  York  and  Boston 
with  stores  and  provisions  of  all  kinds  ;  three  hundred  provincials 
arc  also  arrived  to  recruit  the  ranging  companies  and  corps  of 
artilicers.  *■*  '■■'  '■■'  *^  *'  *^  '^ 

At  ten  o'clock  this  morning  there  was  a  hrisk  cannonading  be- 
tween a  small  battery,  on  the   side  of  the   hill    in   the  north  camp 

and  the  enemy's  floats,  in  which  some  of  our  ships  bore  a-part, 

o  o  o  o  o  o  o  o 

Some  detachments  of  marines  were  landed  to-day,  as  were  like- 
wise our  ship -mortars  ;  these  are  to  be  employed  at  a  new  battery 
we  are  now  erecting,  on  the  right  of  the  others.  Our  artillery  are 
well  served,  and  with  seeming  success,  vw  lower  town  being  al- 
ready considerably  damaged ;  the  enemy  are  wasting  their 
ammunition  to  little  purpose. 

July  15.  We  are  throwing  up  a  traverse  on  the  upper  road  be- 
hind the  great  v/ater-mill,  whence  there  is  a  parapet  work  extend- 
ed on  the  top  of  the  rocky  hill  commanding  the  Point,  as  far  as 
the  Parsonage-house  to  the  south-west  of  the  church  ;  the  face  of 
this  hill  is  also  cleared  of  all  trees  and  under-wood  ;  so  that  the 
defences  of  our  camp  are  now  almost  completed.  Tliere  was  a 
warm  cannonading  late  last  night  across  the  fall,  which  was  brisk- 
ly renewed  this  morning  on  both  sides. 

July  10.  Ninety-six  shells  and  seven  carcasses  have  been 
thrown  into  the  town  the  last  twenty-four  hours.  The  bearer  of 
the  last  flag  of  truce  from  the  enemy  told  General  Wolfe  : — "  We 
do  not  doubt  but  you  will  demolish  the  town  ;  but  we  are  deter- 
mined yt  ur  army  shall  never  get  footing  within  its  walls  !"  to 
which,  the  General  replied  :— "  I  will  be  master  of  Quebec,  if  1 
otay  here  until  the  latter  end  of  November  next."  At  eleven 
o'clock  a  lire  broke  out  in  a  large  building*  in  the  upper  town, 
and  burned  with  great  fury,  by  the  wind's  blowing  fresh  at  north- 
wchI  ;  the  enemy  seemed  thereby  much  incensed,  and  cannonaded 
our  batteries  very  vigorously  for  the  space  of  two  hours  ;  our 
batteries  on  the  north  camp  played  Jjriskly  into  the  enemy's  camp 
at  the  same  time,  without  any  return. 


*  The  arreat  rathreil.il  ('huri'h  of  Quebec,  with  all  its  paintiiiL^s,  imafres,  and 
or'.iiinients,  were  entirely  destroyed  by  this  couflagration,  occasioned  ly  our 
shellti,  &u. 


80 


Jvi.r  \1,  The  savages  aro  very  troublesome  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  north  camp,  which  obliges  the  troops  to  bo  very 
alert.  The  General  IVoqiiently  sends  out  large  detachments  to 
scour  the  environs  of  his  camp,  and  to  endeavor  to  draw  part  of 
the  French  army  out  of  their  trenches,  by  often  countermarching 
in  the  skirts  of  the  woods  in  their  view,  as  if  intending  to  cross 
the  river  of  Montmorency  and  attack  them. 


■'\ 


Two  of  their  floating  stages  were  sent  over  to-day  to  Orleans 
for  trial ;  they  will  each  contain  near  three  hundred  men,  and  are 
supported  on  the  water  by  a  parcel  of  iron-bound  pipes,  or  casks, 
fastened  together  vvith  small  cables  ;  they  are  exactly  square, 
with  a  hand-rail  to  thiee  faces,  and  the  fourth  face  is  covered  by  a 
kind  of  mantlet,  or  wooden  fence,  mii8ket-|)roof,  which,  upon  the 
iioats  being  towed  towards  the  shore,  lets  down,  and  forms  a 
stage  for  the  troops  to  disembark  on.         "         "         *^         ••*         '•' 

Slack  firing  between  the  town  and  our  batteries  to-day  ;  another 
mortar  and  some  cannon  were  brought  up  there  this  afternoon, 
Weather  showery  though  warm. 

July  18.  Many  new  projects  are  talked  of;  but,  I  believe,  from 
no  other  motive  than  to  amut^e  the  eiiernn,  in  order  that  falae  intelli- 
gence may  be  circulated  throughout  their  cainps  should  any  of  our 
soldiers  desert,  a  practice  common  in  alt  armies. 

»  0  O  0  0  o  o  ^ 

The  garrison  has  not  fired  at  our  batteries  since  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  yesterday ;  they  began  this  day  at  noon,  and 
continued  cannonading  and  Viombarding  incessantly  until  sun-set, 
without  any  loss  or  accident  whatever.  General  Wolfe  was  there 
fijr  some  lime  ;  no  man  can  disp'ay  greater  activity  than  he  does 

between  the  difl'erent  camps  of  Ivis  army. 

o  o  o  o  o  o  o  o 

Between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  this  night,  sailed  with  a  fair 
wind,  and  with  tide  of  flood,  the  Sutherluiid,  Captain  Rouse,  with 
the  squirrel,  three  cats,  and  two  tradi.jg  sloops  with  provisions, 
and  passed  the  town  ;  the  Diana  frigate  was  to  have  acc(;mpanied 
them,  but  she  I'an  aground  undiT  the  Little  Rock-Guard,  and  stuck 
80  fast  that  she  could  not  be  got  off.  The  enemy  did  not  fire 
above  twenty-eight  guns  all  last  night,  which  makes  us  conjeet ure 
that  the  sailing  of  tiles  i  ships  into  the  uppei  river  wan  a  gn-at 
surprise  to  them.     General  Wolfe,  who  was  then  at  our  biitteries, 


gave  the  town  a  most  incessant  fire  while   this   small   fleet  were 
passing. 

July  19th.  The  enemy  erected  a  gibbet  on  the  grand  battery 
above  the  lower  town,  and  hanged  two  sentinels,  we  suppose  for 
not  being  more  alert  on  their  posts,  and  neglecting  to  apprise  tlieni 
of  the  first  appearance  of  our  ships  advancing  to  pass  the  garrison 
into  the  upper  river.  *•*  ■•*  '*  ••'  » 

There  was  a  smart  cannonading  this  afternoon,  between  a  bat- 
tery on  the  side  of  the  hill  in  the  north  camp,  the  battery  on  the 
Poi'it  of  Orleans,  and  some  of  the  enemy's  floats. 

Our  new  batteries  are  in  great  forwardness  and  will  soon  be 
ready  to  open.  The  command  at  Orleans  have  been  reinforced  by 
some  of  the  provincials,  who  lately  arrived  from  New  England. 

O  O  O  .  O  O  O  O  0 

July  20th.  Orders  arc  given  out  to  the  troops  on  this  side  to 
be  ready  to  march  this  evening. 

The  conjectures  on  this  head  are  various  ;  some  are  of  opinion, 
we  have  intended  to  storm  the  town  to  night  ;  others,  that  wo 
are  intending  to  cut  off  the  corps  of  seventeen  hundred  men,  which 
the  enemy  are  said  to  have  detached  to  our  side  of  the  river  ; 
while  others  look  upon  these  sudden  orders  and  reports  as  the 
effects  of  policy.  ^*  ^'  '■■'  '■■'  ^■''  ^'■' 

Slack  firing  at  our  batteries  to-day,  the  enemy  silent. 

July  21.  Our  batteries  played  briskly  on  the  town  last  night. 
This  morning  the  General  engaged  the  enemy  very  warmly  for 
some  hours,  with  his  cannon  and  howitzers  across  the  fall.  The 
weather  exceedingly  wet  and  uncomfortable. 


General  Wolfe  was  at  our  batteries  to-day,  and  while  he  con- 
tinued there  the  town  fired  nearly  fifty  shot,  (after  being  long 
quiet)  with  their  usual  ill  success.  The  General  took  an  escort 
from  thence  to  Gorham's  Post,  where  he  had  a  barge  to  attend 
him,  and  proceeded  immediately  into  the  upper  river  to  recon- 
noitre, after  which  he  went  on  board  the  Sutherland. 

0  o  o  o  o  o  o  o 

The  enemy  having  erected  a  battery  at  Sillery,  opposite  to  the 
river  Ethemin,  where  they  have  mounted  a  mortar  and  two  pieces 
of  cannon,  the  squadron  under  Captain    Rouse  has  been  thereby 
11 


82 


\, 


'\ 


obliged  to  move  higher  up  in  the  river.  The  mast  of  the  General's 
barge  was  carried  away  by  a  shot  from  that  battery  while  his  Ex- 
cellency was  abreast  of  it. 

July  22,  Our  battel ies  eastward  of  the  fall,  kept  a  warm  fire 
last  night  for  several  hours,  on  the  enemy's  camp. 

Q  O  O  O  O  0  o  o 

The  weather  cleared  up  this  evening  after  a  very  rainy  forenoon- 
At  nightfall,  our  new  batteries  were  opened  against  the  town, 
which  produced  a  fariouG  cannonading  oii  both  sides,  with  some 
shells  and  carcasses  from  us. 

July  23.  Between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  last  night,  part  of 
the  lower  town  took  fire  and  burnt  with  great  rapidity  until  nine 
this  morning. 

July  24,  We  have  maintained  an  almost  incessant  fire  of  shot 
and  shell  against  the  town  these  last  fourteen  hours,  which  set 
part  of  it  in  flames.  "■■'  '*  •■  ^' 

Our  weather  is  extremely  wet  and  uncomfortable. 

O  o  o  o  o  o  o  o 

July  25,  We  played  so  warmly  on  the  town  last  night  that  a 
fire  broke  out  in  two  different  parts  of  it  at  eleven  o'clock,  which 
burnt  with  great  rapidity  until  near  three  this  morning  ;  the  enemy 
remained  perfectly  quiet  during  that  time,  and  still  continue  so. 
We  are  erecting  a  new  six-gun  battery  to  the  right  of  the  otiiers, 
to  keep  the  lower  town  in  ruin,  which  appears  to  be  almost  de- 
stroyed. *•'  *'  ■■■'  *  "  '■'  '■■' 

This  day  two  hundred  marines  were  detached  to  the  north  camp 
to  do  duty  with  the  troops  there. 

July  26.  We  threw  one  hundred  and  fifty  shells  and  carcasses 
into  the  town  these  last  e'ghteen  hours,  besides  discharging  a 
great  number  of  shot,  "  •'  •'  •' 

The  enemy  are  erecting  some  works  on  the  left  of  f  eir  carp  ; 
but  our  batteries  eastward  of  the  fall  played  so  briskly  on  thorn 
to-day,  that  they  were  obliged  to  desist.  General  Wolfe  was  at 
the  same  time  rcconnoitering  to  the  northward  of  his  camp,  and 
his  escort  was  attacked,  whereupon  a  smart  skirmish  ensued,  in^ 
which  we  had  about  fifty  killed  and  wounded,  and,  by  the  numbers 
of  the  enemy  carried  ofi",  (who  were  mostly  Indians,)  it  is  conjec- 
tured their  loss  may  be  almost  doubled. 


8;i 


Our  butteries  have  fired  almost  incessantly  this  day  on   the 
town,  which  the  enemy  briskly  returned  for  some  hours. 


Jur-Y  27.  Colonel  Eraser's  detachment  returned  this  morning, 
and  presented  us  with  more  scenes  of  distress,  and  the  dismal 
consequences  of  war,  by  a  great  number  of  wretclied  families, 
whom  they  brought  in  prisoners,  with  some  of  their  effects,  and 
near  three  hundred  black  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  and  horses. 

We  have  bombarded  the  town  very  briskly  these  last  twenty-four 
hours. 

July  28.  We  opened  a  new  six-gun  battery  last  night,  which, 
with  the  others  to  the  left  of  it,  kept  a  most  tremendous  fire  on 
the  town,  and  is  still  continued. 

July  29.  Our  batteries  fire  almost  incessantly  on  the  town 
both  day  and  night ;  the  wind  is  still  favorable  for  ships  to  pass 
into  the  upper  river,  though  little  of  it.  An  expedition  of  great 
consequence  is  talked  of,  for  which  the  chosen  detachments  from 
the  several  regiments  are  said  to  be  reserved. 

July  30,  Very  hot  work  at  our  batteries  to  day,  and  at 
about  two  o'clock,  the  enemy  gave  them  a  round  from  every  gun 
they  could  bring  to  bear  upon  them,  after  being  silent  for  a  long 
time  before  ;  we  bombarded  the  town  last  night  from  sunset  until 
sunrise  this  morning. 

July  31.  Our  batteries  on  the  eminence  to  the  eastward  br'sk- 
ly  enfiladed  the  enemy's  works  at  the  left  extremely  of  their 
camp,  and  also  their  detached  battery  and  redoubt  on  the  beach 
below.  "  '■'  "  "  »  «  "^ 

A  heavy  connonading  from  every  quarter. 

o  o  o  o  o  o  o  (> 

The  General,  seeing  the  situation  of  affairs,  night  drawing  on 
a-pace  and  the  ammunition  of  the  army  damaged  wii'i  the  ^.reaii- 
fulest  thunder  storm  and  fall  of  rain  that  can  be  conceived,  sit«t 
uo  stop  Brigadier  Townshend.  The  enemy  did  not  attempt  .o 
pursue  ;  their  ammunition  must  undoubtedly  have  shared  the  same 
fate  with  our  own,  for  the  violence  of  the  storm  exceeded  any  dis- 
cription  I  can  attempt  to  givv  of  it. 

O  O  J  o  o  o  o 

The  storm  of  uncomoioD  he%\y  rain^  ^{  not  only  damaged  our 


81 


1 


powdor,  l»ut   rondcrod  tluj   jji-ecipiccs  to   tlio  enemy's  work   so 
Klippcry,  as  t(t  liecomc  iiupciHsiliie  for  men  to  anccnd  them. 

Ai'tt.  2.  Wo  bombarded  the  town  with  great  spirit  last 
ni^hl. 

Aug.  3.  Part  of  the  town  was  in  flames  early  this  morning, 
but  was  soon  extijiguished  ;  we  eontinuo  to  bombard  and  cannon- 
ade it  vigorously,  though  wc  have  seldom  any  return  from  tiio 
enemy. 

Aio.  4.  Our  fire  against  the  town  has  boon  very  heavy  these 
last  twenty-four  hours.  *■'  '■■'  '■■*  *■*  *■* 

At  night  General  Wolfe  amused  the  enemy  by  making  a  feint 
to  cross  the  ford  by  the  fall,  whereupon  they  beat  to  arms,  and 
lined  their  entrenchments ;  which  as  soon  as  he  perceived,  he 
gave  them  a  formidable  fire  from  all  his  cannon  and  howitzers  on 
the  hill. 

Aug.  6.  Smart  firing  on  the  town  this  night,  which  is  faintly 
returned. 

AiG.  7.  At  times  butcher's  meat  is  scarce,  but  that  is  supplied 
by  young  horse-flesh  ;  a  loin  of  a  colt  eats  well  roasted,  and  tliere 
are  many  other  parts  of  the  carcase,  which  if  disguised  in  the 
same  manner  that  one  meets  with  other  victuals  at  table,  may 
deceive  the  nicest  palate. 

AiG.  8.  Two  of  our  twenty-four  pounders  are  disabled  at  the 
batteries,  whence  we  still  maintain  a  brisk  fire  against  the  town, 
which  appears  to  be  in  a  most  ruinous  condition.  In  the  even- 
ing, Mr.  Wolfe  cannonaded  and  bombarded  the  left  of  the  enemy's 
camp  for  above  an  hour. 

Aug.  9.  About  one  o'clock  this  morning,  a  fire  broke  out  in 
the  lower  town,  and,  by  the  winds  freshening,  the  flames  spread 
with  great  rapidity,  and  C(jntinued  burning  until  ten,  by  which 
the  j^rcater  part  of  that  quarter  was  destroyed  ;  it  communicated 
to  one  of  their  batteries,  blew  up  a  small  magazine  or  powder- 
chest,  burned  their  platforms  and  carriages,  and  discharged  some 
of  their  guns.  Another  fire  was  perceived  to  burst  forth  in  the 
upper  town,  which  was  extinguished  in  less  than  an  hour.  Our 
artillery  officers  observe  that  they  can  now  reach  the  north 
suburbs,  where  the  Intendant's  superb  palace  is  situated  ;  and  this 
quarter  they  hope  they  shall  soon  put  on  the  same  romantic  foot- 
ing with  the  rest. 


m 


Aug.  9.  When  tlm  lower  town  was  in  fliunps  oarly  tliia 
mornirif^,  INIr.  Wollb  onlorod  tho  ])i(nic!t8  and  prcnadifiR  to  niairh 
down  to  the  beach,  and  make  a  feint  to  cross  the  Cord  leading-  to 
tho  Point  do  Lel't  ;  which  tho  enemy  ])erceivin{i^,  beat  instantly  to 
arms  and  lined  their  works  ;  whereupon  the  Ueneral  gave  them  a 
spirited  discharge  from  all  his  cannon  and  hoAvitzcrs  and  did  great 
cxcution  among  them.     . 

Arc.  10.  General  Wolfe,  with  Colonel  Oarleton,  &c.,  arc  gone 
a  few  miles  down  the  rivor,  escorted  by  two  companies  of 
grenadiers,  on  a  roconnoitering  party.  A  brisk  discharging  of 
small  arms  was  heard  to-day,  for  near  two  honrs,  above  the  town, 
which  resembled  platoon  firing.  Smart  cannonading  and  bom- 
barding between  the  town  and  our  batteries. 

Auo.  11.     Our  batteries  fire  briskly  on  the  town  to-day  without 

any  return.  . 

o  o  o  o  o  o  «  e 

This  night  at  nine  o'clock  the  Lcostaif,  Hunter,  and  some  trans- 
ports worked  upwards  and  attempted  to  pass  the  town,  but  tho 
tide  of  flood  being  almost  at  the  heiglit,  and  the  wind  failing  them, 
they  were  obliged  to  put  back  ;  while  they  were  within  reach  the 
enemy  bombarded  and  cannonaded  them  vigorously,  which  was 
most  spiritedly  returned  by  our  batteries. 

12.  This  morning,  at  day  break,  our  weather  changed  to  un- 
common heavy  rain,  which  continued  several  hours  without  inter- 
mission. 

13tli.  The  General  bombarded  the  enemy's  camp  warmly  this 
mru-ning,  by  which  one  of  their  houses  took  fire,  and  while  they 
were  endeavoring  to  extinguish  it,  he  gave  them  a  vigorous  dis- 
charge from  all  his  artillery,  and  maintained  it  above  an  hour. 

o  O  O  O  »  -  " 

Upwards  of  a  thousand  cannon  shot,  and  twenty  thirteen  inch 
shells,  which  came  from  the  enemy  at  diflerent  times,  have  been 
collected  in  the  pecincts  of  our  batteries  and  were  sent  on  board 
an  ordnance  ship  to  be  transmitted,  as  it  is  said,  to  Louisbourg  ; 
the  soldiers  are  allowed  two  ponce  for  a  shot,  two  shillings  and 
six  ponce  for  a  ten  inch,  and  five  shillings  for  thirteen  inch  shells 

o    o  o     ]3y  the  deluge  of  rain  we  have  had  of  late,  the  air 

is  rendered  cool,  and  our  camp  uncomfortable. 

14.  A  strong  fortress  to  contain  a  garrison  of  three  thousand 


86 


mon  this  winter,  on  the  island  of  Coudre,  is  again   reported  to  bo 
determined  upon,  and  the  plan  to  be  very  soon  put  in  oxecuiion. 

O  O  O  O  ■■■■  0  (.)  o 

General  Wolfe  attacked  Botne  of  the  enemy's  floating  batteries 
tliat  were  edging  down  to  the  Point  de  Loft,  and  obliged  them  to 
retire  precipitately. 

1').  General  Wolfe  cn;raged  one  of  the  floats  this  afternoon, 
and  she  soon  after  blew  up.  The  town  is  warmly  bombarded  this 
evening. 

16.  A  fire  broke  out  in  the  town  last  night,  and  the  flames 
spread  with  great  rapidity ;  the  enemy  then,  as  in  such  cases, 
fired  vigorously  on  our  batteries,  though  witiiout  execution. 

O  O  O  O  5|C  3j«  )|C 

The  waters  were  so  much  out,  occasioned  by  the  late  heavy 
rains,  that  the  rivulet  was  not  passable. 

3|(  )fl  Sjt  V  "  *p  "  SfC 

The  weather  changed  this  evening,  which  brought  the  wind 
about,  but  it  did  not  continue  long  fair.  Our  now  batteries  are  in 
great  forwardness. 

n.  Part  of  the  town  took  fire  again  last  night,  but  there  being 
no  wind  and  a  heavy  rain,  it  was  soon  got  under. 

The  town  and  our  batteries  were  silent  all  last  night  and  to-day, 
until  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  they  broke  out  and  a 
smart  cannonading  and  bombardment  ensued  on  both  sides.  The 
new  batteries  we  are  erecting  are  to  mount  nineteen  twenty-four 
pounders.  A  storm  is  strongly  talked  of,  in  which  the  Admiral,  it 
is  said,  will  assist  wi;h  a  few  ships  and  some  thousands  of  seamen. 

18,  We  have  supported  a  brisk  fire  upon  the  town  all  last 
night  and  to-day.  *  *  *  *  *         , 

The  Chief  Engineer  disapproves  of  storming  Quebec,  as  an  en- 
terprise extremely  dangerous  and  without  any  prospects  of  suc- 
ceeding, particularly  as  the  fleet  cannot  assist  us,  their  guns  not 
having  sufficient  elevation  to  effect  the  upper  town. 

19th.  A  heavy  storm  of  rain  in  the  evening  with  grt'.ai  thunder 
aud  lightning. 

21.  AVe  fire  a  little  on  the  town  to-day  without  any  return. 
The  weather  is  so  extremely  wet  and  disagreeeble  that  very  little 
advantage  can  now  be  reaped  any  where.     At  noon  General  Wolfe 


8Y 


discharged  some  liowitzcrs  into  the  enemy's  camp.  Tho  project 
of  croctiiip  ii  fortreHs  on  the  iHlaiid  of  ('oudro,  lor  a  garriHon  of 
tlireo  tfiousand  inoii,  is  laid  aside  fur  want  of  pn  jxr  inatcrials,  and 
the  season  being  too  far  advanced  fur  sucli  an  undortaliing.  TIio 
enterprise  of  storming  Quebec  is  also  given  up,  a-i  too  despenvto 
to  liope  for  success.  *  *  *'  *  ♦ 

It  is  with  tiio  greatest  concern  to  the  wliole  army  that  we  aro 
now  informed  of  dur  amiabU)  General's  being  very  ill  of  a  slow 
fever;  the  soldiers  lament  him  exceedingly,  and  seemed  appre- 
hensive of  this  event  before  wo  were  ascertained  of  it,  by  liiu  not 
visiting  this  camp  for  several  days  past. 

Our  batteries  are  now  limited  to  twenty-five  rounds  in  twenty- 
four  hours  per  gun,  and  the  mortars  to  forty-live. 

24.  I  crossed  the  river  this  morning  to  wait  on  the  General, 
and  receive  his  orders  for  this  brigade  ;  this  is  the  first  and  only 
opportunity  1  had  of  being  in  that  camp,  where  no  pains  have  been 
spared  to  render  it  impregnable  ;  a  tolerable  house  stood  con- 
venient liere  for  Mr.  Wolfe's  quarters,  but  he  was  so  ill  above 
stairs  as  not  to  be  able  to  come  to  dinner. 

The  town  threw  five  shells  at  our  batteries  to-day,  but  there 
was  no  mischief  done.     We  continue  to  keep  the  place  in  ruin. 

25.  His  Excellency,  General  Wolfe,  is  on  the  recovery,  to  the 
inconceivable  joy  of  the  whole  army. 

26.  Our  batteries  and  the  town  exchanged  many  shot  and  shells 
to-day. 

29.  Our  troops  eastward  of  Montmorency  are  preparing  to 
evacuate  that  ground ;  the  enemy's  batteries  westward  of  the 
cataract  cannonaded  the  boats  that  were  passing  to  General 
Wolfe's  camp,  in  order  to  bring  off  the  sick,  women,  and  heavy 
baggage  ;  but  his  Excellency,  by  a  superior  fire  from  all  his  cannon 
and  hi  witzers,  soon  silenced  them. 

31.  General  Wolfe  appeared  in  his  camp  to-day  for  the  first 
time  since  his  late  illness.  #  :|c  *  * 

Wo  are  drawing  off  our  cannon  from  General  Wolfe's  camp. 

Sept.  1.  The  Seahorse  frigate,  two  cats,  and  two  sloops,  passed 
into  the  upper  river  last  night  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock, 
which  occasioned  a  furious  firing  between  the  town  and  our 
batteries.  **•♦** 


68 


if 


A 


Several  \)U'cch  of  bniss  cannon,  twelves  and  tvventy-foiir  poiind- 
ei-H,  were  drawn  up  to  our  l»uttt!rieH,  and  wo  are  throwing  up 
another  retloul>t  th('n>. 

It  is  privately  runmrcd  with  Hoine  conlich-nee,  that  the  main 
body  of  the  ar.ny  is  wiiortly  to  be  conveyed  above  the  town,  to 
endeavor  to  fon^e  a  landing  on  the  north  bide  of  theiiver,  between 
Cap(!  Rouge  and  Cape  Dianioml. 

2.  t;ieneral  Wolfe  is  prei)aring  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  tho 
ground  eastward  of  the  cataract ;  for  thin  purpose  he  has  sent 
over  all  his  artillery,  stores,  baggage,  tent,  &.c. 

o  c;  o  o  o  o  o  o 

General  Wolfe  is  endeavoring  to  draw  the  flower  of  the  French 
army  from  their  strong  entrenched  cami),  to  an  engagement  on  Ida 
own  ground  before  he  abandons  it. 

4.  An  expedition  is  on  foot  to  the  upper  river,  in  which  tlie 
greatest  part  of  the  army,  with  our  three  Brigadiers,  are  to  assist  ; 
tiie  General  will  command  in  person,  if  his  health  will  permit. 
The  grenadiers  of  Louisbourg  are  under  orders  to  join  us  this  eve, 
from  Orleans.  The  boats  are  to  pass  the  town  this  night,  with 
the  light  baggage  of  the  troops,  fine  weather  and  wind  lavorable. 

5.  General  Wolfe  was  much  indisposed  last  night,  he  is  better 
to-day  ;  but  the  army  are,  nevertheles.s,  very  apprehensive  lest 
his  ill  state  of  health  should  not  permit  him  to  command  this 
grand  enterprise  in  person. 

(3.  We  had  an  uncommon  storm  of  rain  last  night ;  to-day 
showery  weatlier  and  wind  variable.  Wo  fired  warmly  on  tho 
town  these  last  eighteen  hours,  without  a  single  gun  or  shell  iu 

rctliril*  J|c  5|e  :^<  3|c  5j«  *  5^ 

Tho  General  joined  the  army  and  upper  fleet  this  night. 

V.  Fine  warm  weather :  Adndral  Holmes'  squadron  weighed 
early  this  morning  ;  at  six  o'clock  wo  doubled  the  mouth  of  tho 
Chaudiere,  which  is  near  a  half  a  mile  over  ;  and  at  eight  we  came 
to  an  anchor  off  Cape  Kouge.  *  *  *  * 

This  afternoon  at  two  o'clock  the  Seahorse,  Leostaff,  and  two 
outing  batteries  that  were  lately  taken,  wore  ordered  to  edge 
into  the  cove  and  attack  the  enemy's  armed  floats,  at  the  same 
time  the  troops  put  into  their  boats  and  rowed  up  and  down,  as  if 
intending  to  land  at  diirerent  places,  to  amuse  the  enemy ;  the 
Brigadiers^  no  doubt,  knew  this  was   intended  only  as  a  finesse, 


8i) 


liiit  tlin  corps  tlioufjlit  they  wcvc,  in  rciility,  K"''"^;'  f»Hli'>ro,  ami 
Hiicli  wiiH  tlii'ir /('III,  IIkiI  tlicy  were  iiiiicli  ilisiippuintiMl,  when,  iiltcr 
Idinuliiii;  Hdiiic  time  in  tliis  mMiincr,  lliry  wt-rc  nrdcicd  Itai-k  to 
tlicir  Hlii|»s  ;  llii.s  Hcciiis  Ciiiciilutcd  In  lix  llic  iittciitiuii  of  tin;  ciictiiy 
oil  llmt  particiiliir  pjirt,  while  u  Uewceut  in  iiioditiited  elMuwIioro, 
jierliapH  lower  down. 

8.  Wet  wcutlicr,  wind  up  the  river  :  thirt  inorniiif,'-,  iit  diiy-!»roak, 
a  tniiiHport  cat,  two  nloopH,  and  a  Hchooncr,  pasHcd  tliotown  with 
provisions,  &,c.,  and  woro  rolI(»\v(.'d  soon  after  by  two  other  sniall 
vessels,  they  were  all  warmly  cannonaded  in  tli(;ir  passa;j;(!,  and 
sustained  some  daiiiaj^-o.  Orders  arc  issaed  out  this  ovfMiin^^  lor 
the  troops  to  land,  and  make  a  diversion  to-morrow  inorning  at 
day  li^ht. 

1).  The  (>xtrcmo  wetness  of  the  weather  prevented  the  opor- 
atioi.H  intended  for  this  morning. 

10.  General  Wolfe  sent  for  an  officor  and  thirty  men  of  the 
forty-third  re;:iment,  to  escort  him  on  a  reconnoitre,  with  Hri^-adier 
Towiishend,  tin;  chief  Knjj^inoor,  Colonel  Carleton,  &c.  For  this 
purpose  six  of  our  grenadiers  coats  were  also  sent  by  his  Excel- 
lency's orders. 

11.  (ireat  preparations  are  making  thron,,  lut  the  fleet  and 
army  to  surj)rise  the  enemy  and  comp(d  tliein  to  decide  the  fat(»  of 
Qnt  hec  by  a  batth;  ;  all  the  long  boats  below  the  town  are  to  bo 
tilled  with  seamen,  marines,  and  such  detachments  as  can  be  spared 
from  Points  \m\\  and  0  '  -ans,  in  order  to  make  a  feint  oil'  Beau- 
poi  I  and  the  Point  d(>  ,  and  endeavor  to  engross  the  attention 
of  the  Suire  do  M(Uit<  ■,  while  the  army  are  to  force  a  descent 
on  111     side  of  the  tow  u. 


KNOX'S  ACCOUN'i   OP  THE  BATTLE  OF   THURSDAY, 
THE  TiriRTErXTH  OF  SEFTEMliER,  1759. 

[lie  lamled  with  the  first  division  under  tlic  personal  coni- 
maiid  of  Wolfe,  and  remarks,  that  "  in  tne  boat  where  he  was, 
one  man  was  killed,  one  seaman,  with  four  soldiers  were  slight- 
ly, and  two  mortally  wounded  ;"  this  from  the  lire  of  the  "  chain 
of    ccntries"  which  Montcalm  had  posted  along  the  summit  of 

the  heights.] 

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Photographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


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"  lioforo  (lay  break  this  ninniirig^,  m'c  made  a  drpcopt  upon  the 
north  shore,  about  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  eastward  of 
SiUery,  and  tlie  light  troops  vvere  fortunately,  by  the  rapidity  of 
the  current,  carried  lower  down,  between  us  and  Cape  Diamond  ; 
we  had  in  this  debarkation  thirty  tiat  bottomed  boats,  containing 
about  sixteen  hundred  men.  This  was  a  great  surprise  ou  tho 
enemy,  who,  from  the  natural  strength  of  the  place,  did  not 
suspect,  and  consequently  were  not  prepared  against  so  bold  an 
attempt.  The  chain  of  sentries  which  they  had  posted  along  the 
summit  of  the  heights  galled  us  a  little,  and  picked  oft'  several 
men  and  some  ofticers,  belbre  our  light  intantry  got  up  to  dis- 
lodge them.  This  grand  enterprise  was  conducted  and  executed 
with  great  good  order  and  discretion  ;  as  fast  as  we  landed  the 
boats  put  olf  for  reinforcements,  and  the  troops  formed  with  much 
regularity.  The  General,  with  Brigadiers  Monckton  and  Murray, 
were  ashore  with  tlie  firrt  division.  We  lost  no  time  here,  but 
clambered  up  one  of  the  steepest  precipices  that  can  be  conceived, 
being  almost  pei'pendicular  and  of  an  incredible  height.  As  soon 
as  we  gained  the  summit  all  was  quiet,  and  not  a  shot  was  heard, 
owing  to  the  excellent  conduct  of  the  light  infantry  under  Colonel 
Howe  ;  it  was  by  this  time  clear  day-light.  Here  we  formed 
again,  the  river  of  tho  south  country  in  our  rear,  our  right  ex- 
tending to  the  town,  our  left  to  Sillery,  and  halted  a  few  minutes. 

The  Ceneral  then  detached  the  light  troops  to  our  left,  to  route 
the  eneniy  from  their  battery,  and  to  disable  their  guns,  except 
they  could  be  rendered  serviceable  to  the  party  who  were  to  re- 
main there  ;  and  this  service  was  soon  performed.  We  then 
faced  to  the  right,  and  marched  towards  the  town  by  files,  till  we 
came  to  tho  plains  of  Abraham,  an  even  piece  of  ground  which 
Mr.  Wolfe  had  made  choice  of,  while  we  stood  forming  upon 
the  hill.  AVeather  showery.  About  six  o'clock,  the  enemy  first 
made  their  appearance  upon  the  heights,  between  us  and  the  town, 
whereupon  we  halted  and  wheeled  to  the  right,  thereby  forming 
the  line  of  battle.  The  first  disposition  then  was  :  "  Grenadiers 
of  Louisbourg  on  the  right,  and  the  forty-seventh  regiment  on  the 
left,  twenty-eighth  ou  the  right,  thiid  on  the  left ;  part  of  the 
light  infantry  took  posts  in  the  houses  at  Sillery,  and  the  remain- 
der occupied  a  chain  of  houses  which  were  opportunely  situated 
for  that  pui-pose;  and  covered  our  left  flank,  inclining  towards  our 
rear ;  the  General  then  advanced  some  platoons  from  the  Grena- 


M 


diors  and  twonty-oii^hth  rop^imont  bolow  tlio  lioi^lit  on  onr  rig-lit, 
to  annoy  tlio  CMiemy,  and  prevent  tlieir  getting'  round  tli(J  declivity 
between  us  and  tin;  main  river,  wliieli  tliey  liad  attempted.  By 
tliis  time  the  liftecMith  and  thirty-fiftli  regiments  joined  us.  who 
formed  a  second  line,  and  were  soon  after  followed  by  the  forty- 
eig-lith  and  fifty-eighth,  two  battalions  of  the  sixty-eij^hth  and 
so'-enty-eighth  reg;iments,  (Ilij^hlanders,)  by  which  a  new  dispo- 
sition was  made  of  the  whole  ;  viz.,  "first  line,  thirty-lifth  to  the 
right,  in  a  circidar  form  on  tlie  slope  of  thi  hill,  fifty-eig-lith  left, 
Grenadiers  right,  seventy-eighth  left,  twemy-eighth  right,  forty- 
seventh  left,  firty-third  in  the  center,"  General  WoUe,  Briga- 
diers i\[onckton  and  Murray,  to  our  front  line  ;  and  the  second 
was  composed  of  the  fifteenth.,  and  two  battalions  of  tlie  sixtieth 
regiment  under  Brigiidier  Townslicnd,  with  a  reserve  of  the  forty- 
eighth  regiment,  under  Colonel  Burton,  drawn  up  in  four  grand 
divisions  with  large  intervals.  The  enemy  had  now  likewise 
formed  the  line  of  battle,  and  got  some  cannon  to  play  on  us, 
v.'ith  round  and  canister  shot ;  but  wliat  galled  us  most  was  a 
body  of  Indians  and  other  marksmen  they  had  concealed  in  the 
corn  opposite  to  the  I'ront  of  our  right  wing,  and  a  coppice  that 
stood  opposite  to  our  center,  inclining  towards  our  left ;  but 
Colonel  Hale,  by  Brigadier  Monckton's  orders,  advanced  some 
platoons,  alternately,  from  the  forty-seventh  regiment,  v/hich, 
after  a  few  rounds,  obliged  these  sculkers  to  retire  :  we  were  now 
ordered  to  lie  down  and  remained  some  time  in  this  position. 
About  eight  o'clock  we  had  two  pieces  of  short  brass  six-pound- 
ers playing  on  the  enemy,  which  threw  them  into  some  confusion, 
and  obliged  them  to  alter  their  disposition,  and  Montcalm  formed 
them  into  three  large  columns  ;  about  nine,  the  two  armies  moved 
a  little  iiearer  each  other.  The  light  cavalry  made  a  faint  attempt 
upon  cur  parties  at  the  battery  of  Sillery,  but  w  )re  soon  beat  off, 
and  Monsieur  de  Bougainville,  with  his  troops  from  Cape  Rouge, 
came  down  to  attack  the  flank  of  our  second  line,  hoping  to 
penetrate  there  ;  but  by  a  masterly  disposition  of  Brigadier 
Townshend,  they  were  forced  to  desist,  and  the  third  battalion 
of  Royal  Americans  was  then  detached  to  the  first  ground  we  had 
formed  on  after  we  gained  the  heights,  to  preserve  the  communi- 
cation with  the  beach  and  our  boats. 

About  ten  o'clock,  the  enemy  began  to  advance  briskly  in  three 
columns,  with  loud  shouts  and  recovered  arms,  two   of  them   in- 


ril 


02 


ill  I' 


i  !i 


I '  I 


clining"  to  tlic  loft  of  our  army,  and  llio  tliird  towards  our  right, 
firing  obliquely  at  the  two  rxtrciiiitics  ol"  our  lino,  from  tlio 
distance  of  one  lini;dn'(l  and  thirty,  until  Ihey  came  within  forty 
yards  ;  which  our  troops  wilhsutod  with  the  groatost  intrepidity 
and  firmness,  still  reserving  their  li"re,  and  paying  the  strictest 
obedienc'j  to  their  ollicers ;  this  uncommon  steadiness,  together 
Avith  the  havoc  which  the  grape-shot  from  our  field-pieces  made 
among  them,  threw  them  into  some  disorder,  and  was  most 
critically  maintained  by  a  well-timed,  reptdar,  and  heavy  dis- 
charge of  our  small  arms,  such  as  they  could  no  longer  oppose  ;  * 
hereupon  they  gave  way  and  tied  with  precipitation,  so  that,  by 
the  time  the  cloud  of  smoke  was  vanished,  our  men  wore  again 
loaded,  and,  profiting  by  the  advantage  we  had  over  them,  pur- 
sued them  almost  to  the  gates  of  the  town,  and  the  bridge  over 
the  little  river,  redoubling  our  fire  with  great  eagerness,  making 
man}'  oflicers  and  men  prisoners.  The  weather  cleared  up,  with 
a  comfortably  warm  sun-shiuc  ;  the  Highlanders  chased  them 
vigorously  towards  Charlt-s's  river,  and  the  tift^'-eiglith  to  the 
suburb,  close  to  John's  gate,  until  they  were  checked  by  the  can- 
non from  the  two  hulks,  at  the  same  time  a  gun,  which  the  town 
had  brought  to  bear  upon  us  with  grape-shot,  galled  the  progress 
of  the  regiments  to  the  right,  who  wore  likewise  pursuing  with 
equal  ardor,  while  Colonel  Hunt  Walsh,  by  a  very  judicious 
movement,  wheeled  the  battalions  of  Bragg  and  Kennedy  to  the 
left,  and  flanked  the  coppice  where  a  body  of  the  enemy  made  a 
stand,  as  if  willing  to  renew  the  action,  but  a  few  platoons  from 
these  corps  completed  our  victory.  Then  it  was  that  Brigadier 
Townshend  came  up,  called  off  the  pursuers,  ordered  the  whole 
lino  to  dress,  and  recove    their  former  ground. 

Our  joy  at  this  success  is  inexpressibly  damped  by  the  loss  we 
sustained  of  one  of  the  greatest  heroes  which  this  or  any  other 
age  can  boast  of.  General  James  Wolfe,  who  received  his  mortal 
wound,  as  he  was  exerting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  grenadiers 
of    Louisbourg ;     and    Brigadier    Monckton    was  unfortunately 


*  When  General  Wolfe  "  formed  the  line  of  battle,  he  ordered  tlie  rejrinientH  to 
load  with  ati  additional  ball.  The  48d  and  47th  regiments,  in  the  centre,  being- 
little  affected  by  the  oblique  fire  of  the  enemy,  }i,ave  them,  with  great  cahnness, 
as  remarkable  a  cl  ise  and  heavy  discharge,  as  I  ever  saw  performed  at  a  ])rivate 
field  of  exercise,  insomuch  that  l)etter  troops  than  wc  encountered  couUl  not 
possibly  witiistand  it;  and,  indeed,  well  might  the  French  officers  say,  that  tliey 
never  opposed  such  a  sIkjcR  as  they  received  from  tiie  centre  of  our  line,  for  tliat 
they  believed  every  ball  took  place,  and  such  regularity  and  discipline  they  had 
not  experienced  tefore." 


93 


wounded  upon  tlio  loft  of  the  forty-tliird,  ond  rio-ht,  of  tlio  forty- 
Bcventii  rof^'iniont.  at  much  tlio  Kumc  time  ;  wliorchy  the  (Muiinuiiid 
devolved  on  Brigiidicr  Towiislioiid,  who.  with  Biij^'iidier  jNI  irniy, 
went  to  the  head  of  every  regiment,  and  returned  tlianksfor  their 
extraordinary  good  behavior,  congratulating  the  oflicers  on  our 
success. 

o  O  O  O  O  O  0  o 

The  oflicers,  who  are  prisoners,  say,  thai  Quebec  will  surrender 
in  a  few  days  ;  some  deserters  wlio  came  out  to  us  in  tlie  evening, 
agree  in  that  opinion,  and  inform  us,  that  the  Sieur  de  Wontcalm 
is  dying,  in  great  agony,  of  a  wound  he  received  to-day  in  their 
retreat.  Tiius  has  our  late  renowned  Commander,  by  his  superior 
eminence  in  the  art  of  war,  and  a  most  judicious  coup  d'(!tat, 
made  a  cimquest  of  this  fertile,  liealthy,  and  hitherto  formidable 
country,  with  a  handful  of  troops  only,  in  spite  of  political 
schemes  and  most  vigoi'ous  elForts  of  the  famous  Montcalm,  and 
many  other  officers  of  rank  and  experience,  at  the  head  of  an 
army  considerably  more  numerous. 

My  pen  is  too  feeble  to  draw  the  character  of  this  British 
Achilles  ;  but  the  same  may,  with  justice,  be  said  of  him  as  was 
said  of  Henry  IV.  of  Franco.  He  was  possessed  of  courage, 
humanity,  clemency,  generosity,  affability,  and  politeness.  And 
though  the  former  of  these  happy  ingredients,  how  essential  soever 
it  nuay  be  in  the  composition  of  a  soldier,  is  not  alone  sufficient  to 
distinguish  an  expert  officer ;  yet  I  may,  with  strict  truth,  ad- 
vance, that  Major  General  James  Wolfe,  by  his  great  talents, 
and  martial  disposition,  which  he  discovered  early  in  life,  was 
greatly  superior  to  his  experience  in  generalship,  and  was  by  no 
means  inferior  to  a  Frederic,  a  Henry,  or  a  Ferdinand." 


LIST  OF  THE  SHIPS  OF  WAR  SFXT  TO  THE  ST.  LAW- 
RENCE, IN  17o9,  TO  ASSIST  AVOLFE  IN  THE 
REDUCTION  OF  QUEBEC: 

111  addition,  tlic  store-ships,  victuallers,  traders,  and  trans- 
ports, were,  })robably,  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred : 
Knox  speaks  of  these  kinds  of  vessels  as  forming  "  an  immense 
fleet." 


1m 


1)4 


Ships'  NamoB. 

Gun« 

OommanderB. 

Neptune, 

00 

Admiral  Saun 
in-chiet",  Cf 

ders,  Commander- 
l>lain  Hart  well. 

PriiR'cs  Amelia, 

80 

Admii 

al  Din-ell. 

l)iil)liii, 

7t 

Admii 

al  Holmes. 

Koyal  William, 

81 

Captain  J'iggot. 

Vanguard, 

71 

i( 

Swanton. 

T.-rril)le, 

74 

« 

Collins. 

Captain, 

70 

« 

Andierst. 

Shrewsbury, 

74 

(( 

Pallis(!r. 

Devonshire, 

71 

u 

Gordon. 

Bedlord, 

(58 

It 

Fowkes. 

Alcide, 

04 

a 

Douglas. 

Somerset, 

08 

(< 

Hughes. 

Prince  Frederic, 

04 

u 

JJootii. 

Pembroke, 

00 

u 

Wheelock. 

IVIedway, 

00 

u 

Proby. 

Prince  of  Oriinge, 

00 

(( 

Wallace. 

Northumberland, 

04 

a 

Lord  Colville. 

Oxford, 

64 

it 

Spry. 

Stirling  Castle, 

04 

u 

Everett. 

Centurion, 

00 

u 

Mantle. 

Trident, 

54 

<( 

Legge. 

Sutherland, 

50 

u 

Kouse. 

Frigate?!, 

Diana, 

30 

(( 

Schomberg. 

(( 

Leostoffe, 

28 

(( 

Deane. 

a 

Ki(;hmc..a, 

32 

u 

Handkerson. 

Frigates, 

Trent, 

28 

a 

Lindsay. 

(( 

Echo, 

24 

« 

Le  Forey. 

Sloops, 

Seahorse, 

80 

(( 

Smith. 

a 

Eurus, 

22 

a 

Elphinstone, 

a 

Nightingale, 

20 

u 

Campbell. 

a 

Hind, 

20 

u 

Bond. 

n 

Squirrel, 

20 

(( 

Hamilton. 

(( 

Scarborough, 

20 

<( 

Scott. 

a 

Lizard, 

28 

« 

Doak. 

(k 

Scor])ion, 

14 

« 

Chdand. 

u, 

Zephir, 

12 

u 

Greenwood. 

a 

Hunter, 

10 

a 

Adams. 

a 

Porcupine, 

14 

u 

Jarvis. 

( 


;  'y, 


On 


Ships'  Namt's. 

Giina. 

10 

('ommninlern. 

Sloops, 

Baltimon;, 

Captain 

Carpenter. 

« 

Connoraiit, 

t 

(( 

M 

a 

Pflicuu, 

8 

u 

Montlord." 

li 

liucui-honse, 

i 

i( 

Kickards. 

u 

lionottsi. 

« 

« 

a 

Vesuvius, 

a 

Chads. 

a 

Sti'ouil)ul(), 

u 

Sniitii. 

n 

Rodney  Cutter, 

3 

u 

Douglas. 

Tli<!  IJonetta  and  Kodney,  as  also  the  Cliarniinp;  jNIolly,  Europa, 
Lawrence,  Pefrjry  and  Sarah,  Good  Intent,  and  Prosperity,  transport 
cutters,  were  appointed  sounding  vessels. 


STATE  OF  THE  BRmSII  ARMY  IN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 

Officers  present :  Bank  and  F'le,  Sfc,  Septeniher,  17.V.). 


COAIMISSIOXK 

D. 

STAFi". 

N.    COM. 

o 

Cm 

o 

Regiments. 

5 

X 

3 
o 

3 
1-^ 

U 

C 

c 

I 

c 
< 

5 

r 

& 

i 

1 

a 
!  S 
1  2-' 

1     CJ 

S 

c 
5 

6 

! 

CS 

C          ! 

a 

Total  of  all 
Hanks,    iiiclii- 
'  din;;    General 
'■  OtUeers,  &c. 

1,5th. 

Amherst's. 

1 

0 

1 

4 

1.5 

5 

0 

0 

1 

0 

21 

6 

3.52 

406 

28th. 

Bniji'o's. 

1 

0 

1 

.5 

9 

8 

0 

0 

1 

0 

23 

11 

362 

421 

35tli. 

OtWiiv's. 

0 

1 

1 

5 

11 

8 

i  1 

1 

1 

0 

23 

11 

456 

519 

4;5(1. 

Keiiiii'ilv's. 

0 

0 

1 

6 

6 

4: 

1 

1 

0 

0 

17 

11 

280 

327 

47th. 

J^uscelles's. 

0 

1 

0 

.5 

8 

8 

0 

0 

0 

0 

31 

2 

305 

360 

48th. 

Wehl.'s. 

0 

1 

0 

4 

16 

7 

1 

0 

1 

1 

33 

14 

605 

683 

.58tli. 

Aiistrutlier's. 

0 

I 

1 

4 

7 

6 

0 

0 

0 

0 

20 

0 

29(i 

335 

COth  1 

I  MoiicktDn's. 

I 

0 

0 

2 

6 

6 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2C 

15 

266 

322 

Luwreuee's. 

0 

1 

0 

4 

11 

8 

0 

0 

0 

0 

28 

14 

474 

540 

78tli. 

M-aser's. 

0 

0 

0 

7 

12 

7 

1 

0 

0 

0 

28 

14 

603 

662 

2i'(l.  ) 
40tli  [ 

Loiiisiioiir;^    ^ 

Coiiipaiiies     > 

0 

1 

0 

2 

8 

0 

1 

0 

0; 

0 

9 

4 

216 

241 

of  Greu'diers  ; 
Total, 

3 

6 

s' 

48!  109 

67 

5 

2 

4| 

1 

259 

102i4215, 

4816 

One  IMajor-General,  three  Brigadier-Generals,  one  Quartei'-Master 
General,  one  Aid  Quarter-Master  General,  one  Adjutant- General,  four 
Majors  of  Brigade,  two  Aids-de-Camp. 


\\i 


9d 


STATE  OF  TlIK   FWKXCII  AH.MY,  SKl'T.,  1S.V.1 


Uir.TiT  ror.t'MX. 


CKNTHE  roi.rivrx. 


I,KFT  rOI.T'MX. 


Troupes  dc  Coldiiio,  ').')() 
l\c';^iiiu'iif  (Ic  III  Siii'iv,  T).")!) 
IJcj:.  ill'  iiiiiijiUciliic,  550 
J)(,'s  Milii'i's,  mill  olio 

Six  roiiiiilcT.         4(MI 


!2()(l() 


I{cj:iiiiciit  lU-  Biinic,  ;!f)() 
l{('^;iiiii'iit  lie  (Juiciiiic, .')()() 
IX'S  Milieus,  1  !>()() 


\<f2i) 


Koyiile  RouCilloii,         r)5() 
Lii  ( 'iilonie,  (i5() 

Dl'S  Miliees,  L'.'iOO 


acoo 


/I    Z/,s<    ^j/"   f/ie    lirlflsh,    Ki/lcil,     Wounded.,   and   Missuig,    on   the 

\-\tli  of  Sept  cm  he  r  : 


Killed, 

AV()iiii(l<'(l, 

Missing, 


01 

') 
364 


All  ranks,  kilk'd,  Avoundi'd.  siiid  missing,  six  hundred  and  sixty-four. 


r 


s 


ANECnOTKS    OF    WOLFE. 


"NVliilo  at  Louisbourg,  and  du  the  2")th  of  ^lay,  1T">0,  Wolfo 
reviewed  the  Grenadier  Cunijumies  of  the  <iarrisun  there: 

"  Some  commanding  offu-ei's  of  eor])s,  who  expected  to  be  also  re- 
viewed ill  their  turn,  told  the  General,  by  Avay  of  apology,  that,  by  their 
regiments  having  been  long  cantoned,  they  had  it  not  in  their  power  to 
learn  or  practise  this  new  exercise  :  to  which  he  answered — "  Poh  ! 
poll!  New  exervhi' — new  fddksttch :  if  they  are  otherwise  icell  disci- 
plined, and  wlUfyht,  that's  all  1  shall  require  of  them  /" 

On  the  i)assa(ie  from  Louisbourg  to  Quebec,  says  Knox,  under 
date  of  June  iKtli  : 

"  At  seven  o'clock  P.  31..  the  Kichmond  Frigate  passed  us,  on  board 
of  which  was  Cieneral  "W'olte,  who  politely  saluted  us,  hoping  we  were 
all  well  on  board." 


,'10(10 


I 

i 
1 

.1 


t 


!)7 


Willi  Wolfo,  juid  killed,  at  Quchoc,  was  a  yoiinji  Fairfax,  (of 
tlio  n()l)l(;  family  in  Vii^iiiia,  and  the  friends  of  Wasliin^lon  in 
cai'Iy  life,)  who,  of  nineh  promise,  had  heeii  educated  in  Kii^- 
land.  It  is  related,  says  S[)apks,  that  Wolfe  saw  him  as  the  army 
land(>d,  s(>at<'(l  near  the;  hank  of  tho  river,  and,  that  tf)uehing 
him  on  tho  shonlder,  la;  said :  "  Yointi^  man,  ir/ten  loe  come  to 
acdon,  remember  t/oiir  name  /" 

From  Knox,  July  Idth  : 

"  Tho  bearer  of  the.  last  flag  of  truce  from  the  enemy,  told  General 
Wolfe:  *  We  do  not  doubt  but  you  will  demoli.«ih  the  towu,  but  we  are 
deteniiiucd  your  army  shall  never  get  tbotiug  within  our  walls.'  To 
which  the  General  replied:  *  Iioill  be  mastv.r  of  Quebec,  if  I  slay  here 
until  the  latter  end  of  KovembernextP''^ 

The  point  of  the  last  anecdote  Avill  readily  occur  to  those  who 
liave  read  such  parts  of  tho  foregoing  Address,  as  relate  to  the 
real  or  supposed  danger  to  the  fleet,  in  remaining  in  the  St. 
Lawrence  as  late  as  tho  begimdng  of  a  Canadian  winter.  The 
two  which  follow,  are  also  from  Knox :  it  will  be  seen  that  both 
immediately  preceded  the  fall  of  the  young  Chief. 

Sept.  10.  General  Wolfe,  being  informed  of  the  indisposition  of 
iyro  officers  on  board  a  sliip,  of  the  4.'3d  Regiment,  expressed  the  great- 
est tenderness  and  good  natm-e  towards  them,  and  desired  they  would 
not  continue  on  board,  to  endanger  their  constitutions  ;  for  that  he  Avould 
lend  them  his  barge  with  ]deasui'e,  to  conduct  them  to  Graham's  post, 
whence  they  should  have  an  escort  to  Point  Levi  camp.  The  gentle- 
men politely  declined  the  offer,  assuring  the  General  that  no  considera- 
tion could  induce  them  to  leave  the  army,  until  they  should  see  the 
event  of  this  expedition." 

Sept.  11.  "The  officer  of  our  regiment,  who  commanded  the  escort 
yesterday,  on  the  reconnoitering  party,  being  asked,  in  the  General's 
hearing,  after  the  health  of  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  was  reported  to 
be  ill,  replied :  '  he  was  in  a  very  low,  inditferent  state ;'  which  the 
other  lamented,  saying,  '  he  has  but  a  puny,  delicate  constitution.'  This 
struck  his  Excellency,  it  being  his  own  case,  who  interrupted:  ^ Don't 
tell  me  of  constitution  ;  that  officer  has  good  spirits,  and  good  spirits  will 
carry  a  man  through  everything .'' ' 

All  these  exhibit  the  character  of  Wolfe  in  a  manner  to  com- 


98 


m 


mnnd  our  ros|)0('l,  Miit  Ijonl  >r;ili()n  tcsUs  a  story,  on  tho  au- 
tliorily  of  lioi'd  'rciiiplc,  wliicli  shows  tlint,  oiicc  certainly  in  liis 
lil(!,  ho  h(^hiiv('(l  like  a  fool      Jt  is  as  fullows: 

Alter  Ills  a|)l)ointnH'iil,  iind  on  tlic  (\ny  prccrdiii;;  liis  cinlmrkMlioii  fctr 
Aim-ricii,  I'.il,  desirous  of  ^d\  iufj;  liis  hist  verltal  insiriietions,  invited 
liiiu  to  diinier,  Lord  Temple  heinjr  the  only  other  finest.  As  the  ove- 
ninjj  advanced,  Wolte — licated,  pcriiaps,  by  his  own  as|)irinf?  thon-ihts, 
and  tlie  unwotned  society  of  statesmen,  broke  tbrtli  into  a  strain  of 
gasconade  and  liravado.  He  ih'cw  liis  sword — he  wrapped  the;  faiths 
with  it — lie  llonrished  it  round  the  room — he  falke<l  ot"  the  mijrhty 
thinss  which  that  sword  was  to  achieve.  The  two  ministers  sat  aghast 
al  an  exhibition  so  inuisual  from  any  man  of  real  sense  and  real  spirit. 
And  when  at  hist  Wolfe  had  taken  his  leave,  and  his  carria;ze  was  heard 
to  roll  from  tho  door,  Pitt  seemed  tor  tlio  moment  shaken  in  tlu;  high 
opinion  which  his  deliberate  jnilgnn'nt  had  titrmed  of  Wolfe:  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes  and  arms,  and  exclaimed  to  Lord  Temple,  "6Vw(/  God!  that 
[  slundd  /tare  entrusted  the  f die  of  the  country  and  oj'  the  adniinislratioii 
to  such  hands  !" 


[  !.■; 


Common  soldiers  and  soamon  arc  almost  unerring  in  their 
estimate  of  their  Chiefs  ;  and  their  bij-names  are  significant  of 
character.  The  ''  Utile  Corpora^ — ''  Old  Net:' — tho  "  Iron 
Duke'^ — "  Old  Hickory^' — and  "  Roii^h-and-Read//,''^  aro  suffi- 
cient illustrations  for  our  purpose.  Tlie  appellation  bestowed 
upon  Wolfe  was:  "T/fc  Olficefs  Friend;  the  Soldier's  Father.^* 


FUNERAL  HONORS:  FAMILY  TOMB  AT  GREENWICH, &c. 

"On  Sunday,  November  17th,  1759,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
his  Majesty's  ship,  Royal  AV^'illiam,  (in  which  his  corpse  was  brought 
from  Quebec  to  Portsmontii,)  fired  two  signal  guns  for  the  removal  of 
his  remains.  At  eight  o'clock,  the  body  was  lowered  out  of  the  ship 
into  a  twelve-oared  barge,  towed  by  two  other  twelve-oarcd  barges,  and 
attended  by  twelve  others,  to  the  bottom  of  the  point,  in  a  train  of 


ilirai 


«^ 


1)0 


jj;l()()iny,  silent  pomp,  siiifaldo  to  tln^  iiu'lMiicliolly  (U'casioii.  Miiuitc-fjiiiis 
worc!  lin'<l  from  the  sliips  n\  Spit liciul.  from  llic  time  of  tlic  l)oily  Iciiviiij^ 
the  ship  to  its  iiciii;^  lamlcd  at  I'ortsmoiilli.  wiiicli  was  one  hour.  'I'hc 
rcjiinii'iil  of  iiivaiitls  was  orih'rt'il  umh-r  arms  Ijciort'  ci^'hl,  and  I'tiiij^ 
Joined  liy  a  company  of  the  train  at  I'ortsmonth,  march('(l  from  liu'  pa- 
raih'  ihrri',  to  tlio  bottom  of  the  point,  to  n-ci-ivf  thr  remains.  At  niiii', 
the  body  was  landed,  and  put  into  a  iiearse,  attended  by  u  moiirnin;i; 
coach,  (hotli  sent  from  Jjondon,)  and  proceeded  llirou^jjh  the  <,'arrison. 
The  colors  on  the  fort  were  struck  half  lla<^-statf ;  the  liells  wcmt  muf- 
iicd,  and  rnn;^  in  .-olenm  concert  witli  tiie  march;  miiiutc-f:;uiis  were 
tired  on  the  phut()rm,  from  the  entrance  of  tlie  corpse!  to  the  close  of 
the  procession;  tiie  company  of  the  train  led  tiie  van,  with  their  arms 
reversed;  the  corpst;  tbliowed  :  and  tlie  invalid  re;;iment  tbllowed  the 
hearse,  their  arms  reversed.  Tiiey  conducted  the  Ixxly  to  the  hmd- 
port  {ifales,  where  the  train  optMied  to  tiie  ri^iit  and  left,  and  the  hearse 
proceeded  throu^^h  them  on  the  way  to  J^ondcai.  Althungh  there  were 
many  thousands  of  people  assembl(;d  on  this  occjision,  not  the  lea/t  dis- 
turbance happencil :  nothiiifr  was  to  be  heard  but  murmurinfr,  broken 
accents,  in  praise  of  t\w  dead  iiero.  On  the  "20th,  at  nij;ht,  his  remains 
were  deposited  in  the  burial  place  belonging  to  his  family  at  fireenwich." 

^Jiuascll's  EiKjliiad. 

"  His  mother,  by  this  time  the  sole  surviving  ineud)er  of  tla^  tiunily, 
claimed  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  committing  his  remains  to  the 
dust,  and  they  were  laid  beside  those  of  his  father,  in  u  vault  in  the  par- 
ish cluirch  of  Greenwich." 

—  Gleig,  in  the  Cabinet  Cydopcedia. 

The  following  ai-ticlo  was  cut  from  a  newspaper  in  Canada,  by 
a  mciuber  of  the  New  England  IJistorie-Geiiealogical  Society  : — 

"  WoLFic's  Tomb. — The  following  interesting  item  we  have  been 
pemiitted  to  extract  from  a  private  letter,  received  at  Montreal,  by  the 
last  English  mail : 

♦  OnEEXWICII,   AUGTTST,    1859. 

'  An  order  in  Council,  from  the  Queen,  has  been  issued,  calling  upon 
the  Churchwardens  to  cause  the  whole  of  the  vaults  under  oin*  Parish 
Church  to  be  tilled  with  earth  and  charcoal,  and  all  the  entrances  to  be 
bricked  up,  never  more  to  be  opened.  Among  the  said  vaults  is  that  of 
General  AVolfe,  the  Conqueror  of  Quebec:  on  opening  the  vault,  was 
found  a  Quebec  ^Mercury  of  the  21st  November,  1839,  deposited  there 
by  Mr.  Hawkins,  of  Quebec,  together   with  his  card,  and  a  wreath  of 


1  i 


Ih'j 


100 


laurel,  on  tin-  l.'.'{r<l  Mjiv,  IMll.  Tlic  ('InircliwanlciiH  liavc  lent  nn'  tlu' 
paper  to  copy  n  I'rospectiiH  it  eoiitains,  ami  amoii<,'  (lie  suli-ciiliers  arn 
four  persons  of  tlie  name  (»f  MaedoiiaM,— namely :  A.  MaeilonaM, 
Threi  Hivers ;  Anu'iH  MacilonaM,  Cornwall,  I'.  C. ;  W.  Mae<loiiaM, 
(taspe;  and  Town-Major  Maedonalil,  Montreal. 

If,  when  you  aie  writinjf  to  Mr.  Lloyd,  yon  wonlil  like  to  mention  tlio 
above  eireuinstanee  refrai'dinj;  the  <.'allant  Wolfe,  perhaps  he  may  kiU)W 
Air.  Hawkins,  and  would  feel  a  satistiietion  iu  iiilidMuiujr  him  of  the  fact 
of  his  MvrvKijf,  Ciinl,  ami  Wivttth,  \n'\\\\i  t()un<l  on  the  eolfm  as  he  left, 
them,  after  a  lapse  ttf  ei^dileeii  yi-ai's.  'I'hey  are  now  in  the  custody  of 
th(!  Churchwardens,  one  of  whom,  .Mr.  T.  llunlley.  has  promised  me 
that  they  shall  still  he  preserved  as  interesting  ndies  of  the  depart<'(l 
hero.  With  the  exception  of  the  up|)er  tiild  of  the  iUfrnin/,  the  paper 
and  type  is  as  perfect  an  when  placed  on  the  colFm  by  Mr.  Hawkins.'" 


i^ 


